IC 1805 - The Heart Nebula

About this Object

Cassiopeia is an astrophotographer's dream! It is filled with shapely, beautiful emission nebulae. This image portrays one of the most spectacular of those nebulae, and perhaps one of the most unique objects in the night sky. Located next to another emission nebula, IC 1848, the two together comprise the Heart and Soul Nebula complex. This complex happens to be very close to another grand site, the Double Cluster in Perseus.

IC 1805 is the name for the large, heart-shaped area of nebulosity, but many of the components of this image have other designations. At the very center of the "heart" is an open cluster of stars known as Melotte 15. This cluster can be seen with just about any telescope as a couple of dozen stars, quite indistinct. The two bright patches at the bottom are known separately as NGC 896 and IC 1795, from left to right respectively. At the left side of IC 1805 is a line of stars known as Markarian 6. To observe the nebulosity itself, you must have large apertures (over 16") and either UHC or OIII filters. With such a setup, you should see NGC 896 as a faint glow, and perhaps even part of the arc of IC 1805 itself. Averted vision might be the only way to see it, and I shouldn't have to say it, but you'll also need dark skies.

Even though this object might not be too pleasing through a scope, it certainly is with a camera. To enhance the detail in the object, I employed a technique whereby I used a special filter that captures the Hydrogen-Alpha emissions of the nebula, took part of the image through it, and then used that information to give the image a special luminance component. It is a difficult technique to perform from a processing standpoint, but I'm quite pleased with the result, which is a good thing, since this nebula deserves a place in everyone's heart (pun intended).