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Captured by
RICHARD COFER

NGC 7380 Wizard Nebula

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Melotte 15 - the heart of the Heart image

Melotte 15 - the heart of the Heart


Acquisition Details
  • Number of frames:   188
  • FPS:
  • Focal length:   1962
  • CMI/CMII/CMIII:
Description

This image was made between 15 Jan 2020 and 6 Feb 2020, in narrow-band, using 3nm Chroma filters. The imaging scope is an Officina Stellare Ultra-Corrected 360mm RC on a Paramount ME II. The imaging camera is a Kepler KL4040. In the constellation of Cassiopeia there are two large nebulae which are often the subject of astrophotography. But they are so large that it is difficult to get them both, or even all of one of them, in the field of view. One is called the Heart Nebula, as it has the approximate shape of a human heart. Its neighbour is called the Soul Nebula. And right at the centre of the Heart Nebula are some columns of dust whose shapes are being formed by the stellar winds and radiation from a cluster of hot young stars called Melotte 15 (also catalogued as IC 1805). This star cluster is at the “heart of the Heart”.