Heart Nebula

Heart Nebula

Emission nebula
H II region
Heart Nebula, with the Fish Head Nebula on the top right corner, narrowband image captured on a 70 mm scope
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension	02^h 33^m 22^s
Declination	+61° 26′ 36″
Distance	7,500 ly
Apparent magnitude (V)	18.3
Apparent dimensions (V)	150' x 150'
Constellation	Cassiopeia
Physical characteristics
Radius	165 ly
Absolute magnitude (V)	6.5
Designations	NGC 896, IC1805, Sh 2-190

The Heart Nebula (also known as the Running Dog Nebula, Sharpless 2-190) is an emission nebula, 7500 light years away from Earth and located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by William Herschel on 3 November 1787.^[1] It displays glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes.^[2]

The brightest part of the nebula (a knot at its western edge) 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, Melotte 15, or IC 1805, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of the Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of the Sun's mass.^[1]

The Heart Nebula is also made up of ionised oxygen and sulfur gasses, responsible for the rich blue and orange colours 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.^[3]

Gallery

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  Image composed of 7 hours of RGB data collected in Escanaba, Michigan, United States
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  Capture on AT80ED on ASI294MC Pro with dualband filter in North Carolina
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  Heart Nebula captured on an ASI2600mc-pro with a Triad Narrowband Filter
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  Heart Nebula and Soul Nebula are part of a large chimney cloud complex
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  Melotte 15 is part of Heart Nebula. There are several bright stars here, some of them nearly 50 times mass of the Sun.
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  Captured from Manchester in September 2022
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  32 hours of Narrowband Exposure captured over 5 nights from Utica, Michigan, United States

See also

• Soul Nebula
• List of NGC objects (1–1000)

References

1. "New General Catalog Objects: NGC 850 - 899". cseligman.com. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
2. "astronomy-mall.com/Adventures.In.Deep.Space/NGC%201-7840%20complete.htm". astronomy-mall.
3. "The Heart Nebula in Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Sulfur | Science Mission Directorate". science.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-12-30. Retrieved 2021-12-30.

External links

• Heart Nebula Data download & Processing Guide
• Heart Nebula at Atlas of the Universe
• NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Heart Nebula (14 February 2009)