NGC 896

Common Name: Heart Nebula

Also Known as: Running Dog Nebula, IC 1805, Sharpless 2-190 (Sh2-190)

Object Type: Emission Nebula

Constellation: Cassiopeia

Distance from Earth: 7,500 light years

Apparent Magnitude: 18.3

Coordinates: RA 02H 33M 22S DEC 61 deg 26 min 30 sec

Actual Size: 330 light years in diameter

Apparent Dimensions: 150 arc-minutes x 150 arc-minutes

Discovered by: IC 1805 was discovered by William Herschel in 1787.

Description: The Heart Nebula is located in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way.
It is an emission nebula showing glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes.
The brightest part of the nebula is separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of the nebula to be discovered.
The nebula's intense red output and its morphology are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of stars near the nebula's center.
This open cluster of stars, known as Collinder 26 or Melotte 15, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass.

Click Below Image(s) for Full Size:

The Heart Nebula is also made up of ionized oxygen and sulfur gasses, responsible for the rich blue and orange colors seen in narrowband images.
The shape of the nebula is driven by stellar winds from the hot stars in its core.
The nebula also spans almost 2 degrees in the sky, covering an area four times that of the diameter of the full moon.

Platesolve

IC 1805 Nebula

Imaging Details
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