Credit & Copyright: Daniel Marquardt
Explanation:
Sprawling across almost 200 light-years,
emission
nebula IC 1805
is a mix of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds.
Derived from its
Valentine's-Day-approved shape,
its nickname is the Heart Nebula.
About 7,500 light-years away in the
Perseus spiral arm of
our galaxy, stars were born in IC 1805.
In fact, near the
cosmic heart's center are the
massive hot stars of a newborn star cluster
also known as Melotte 15, about 1.5 million years young.
A little ironically, the Heart Nebula is located in the
constellation
Cassiopeia.
From Greek mythology, the northern constellation
is
named for a vain and boastful queen.
This deep view
of the region around the Heart Nebula, cropped
from a larger mosaic, spans about
2.5 degrees on
the sky or about 5 times the diameter of the Full Moon.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Cassiopeja - star formation
Publications with words: Cassiopeja - star formation
See also:
- NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410
- Star Factory Messier 17
- APOD: 2023 August 28 Á Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
- APOD: 2023 July 10 Á Stars, Dust and Nebula in NGC 6559
- NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
- APOD: 2023 March 21 Á Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus
- The Tadpole Nebula in Gas and Dust