The Heart Nebula or IC 1805 is some 7500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by William Herschel on 3 November 1787. It is an emission nebula showing glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes.

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 eminating from a small group of stars near the nebula's center. This open cluster of stars, known as Collinder 26 or Melotte 15, contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass.

Acquiring details

• Date: September 17th - 2020
• Integration Time: 6.3 hrs
• Telescope: TS Photoline 130/910 at f5.5
• Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-Synscan Go-To
• Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool
• Filters: Ha 28x300", OIII 29x300", RGB 28x60"