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 emanating 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 the Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of the Sun's mass.[1]
The Heart Nebula is also made up of ionised oxygen and sulfur gasses, responsible for the rich blue and orange colours seen in narrowband images. The shape of the nebula is driven by stellar winds from the hot stars in its core. The nebula also spans almost 2 degrees in the sky, covering an area four times that of the diameter of the full moon.[3]
This image of the Heart Nebula is composed of 7 hours of RGB data collected in December 2021 by Keith Steffens at the Frog Island Observatory in Escanaba, Michigan.
Heart Nebula captured on AT80ED on ASI294MC Pro with dualband filter. Captured 12-12-23 in North Carolina by Samantha PickardHeart Nebula captured in Ha, Sii and Oiii Hubble Palette
Heart Nebula captured on an ASI2600mc-pro with a Triad Narrowband Filter
Melotte 15 is part of Heart Nebula. There are several bright stars here, some of them nearly 50 times mass of the Sun. Telescope: 14" SCT Imager: Raman Madhira from Ray's Astrophotography Observatory; Postprocessing with PixInsight. Imaged on 2022-09-21
Captured from Manchester September 2022 Bortle class 8 sky
Heart Nebula captured on an ASI2600mc-pro with a Triad Narrowband Filter
Heart Nebula and Soul Nebula are part of a large chimney cloud complex
Melotte 15 is part of Heart Nebula. There are several bright stars here, some of them nearly 50 times mass of the Sun. Telescope: 14" SCT Imager: Raman Madhira from Ray's Astrophotography Observatory; Postprocessing with PixInsight. Imaged on 2022-09-21
Captured from Manchester September 2022 Bortle class 8 sky
