Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)  ·  Contains:  HD12716  ·  HD12938  ·  HD13256  ·  HD13450  ·  HD13504  ·  HD13541  ·  HD13554  ·  HD13676  ·  HD13715  ·  HD13734  ·  HD13757  ·  HD13771  ·  HD13864  ·  HD13898  ·  HD14061  ·  HD14124  ·  HD14172  ·  HD14173  ·  HD14183  ·  HD14218  ·  HD14242  ·  HD14299  ·  HD14328  ·  HD14345  ·  HD14441  ·  HD14442  ·  HD14510  ·  HD14519  ·  HD14552  ·  HD14558  ·  And 370 more.
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Heart & Soul Nebulae #1, Molly Wakeling
Powered byPixInsight

Heart & Soul Nebulae #1

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Heart & Soul Nebulae #1, Molly Wakeling
Powered byPixInsight

Heart & Soul Nebulae #1

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Shortly after I started taking piano lessons in fifth grade, one of my neighbors taught me the melody of "Heart & Soul," and we played it together, with her playing the left-hand part.
It's obvious that the Heart Nebula, on the left, should be called the Heart -- it's remarkable how similar the shape is to the cartoon version we love. Although, the Soul Nebula on the right may be more similar to the organ's shape in reality I'd call it the Liver Nebula if it wasn't so conveniently right next to the Heart!
These two enormous star-forming regions are massive clouds of glowing ionized gas; the red-glowing hydrogen dominates the others in this natural-color view. At 7,500 lightyears away, they are in the Perseus Arm of our own Milky Way, and can be found in the constellation Cassiopeia. The Heart Nebula is approximately 330 lightyears across. From our vantage point here on Earth, if you could see it naked eye, the Heart would span the same area as four full Moons! I've zoomed in on a couple areas of the Heart; at the base of the heart (on the left) is NGC 896, sometimes called the Fish Head Nebula: https://www.astrobin.com/z96t95/
One of my favorite astrophotos of all time is when I zoomed in on the "Heart of the Heart," this incredible intricate structure at its center: https://www.astrobin.com/wttkt8/

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Heart & Soul Nebulae #1, Molly Wakeling

In these public groups

Women Astrophotographers