Object: Heart and Soul Nebulae (IC 1805 and IC 1848)
Equipment: Borg 77EDII on EM-200 mount; SBIG STL-11000M camera; Vixen 70S guidescope
Exposure/Processing: 11 x 200s RGB each; 10 x 900s hydrogen alpha as luminance; Processed Maxim DL and Photoshop.
Location/Date: CSPG Chiefland Fall Star Party, 29 October 2011
Comment: Heart and Soul Nebulae (IC1805 and IC1848) in Cassiopeia. These two bright emission nebulae are located 6,000 to 6,500 light years distant in the Perseus arm of our Milky Way galaxy and measure about 300 light years wide (5.5 degrees). This is major star forming region. The large, darker cavities in the nebulae were carved out by radiation and stellar winds from the region’s most massive stars. According to the theory of triggered star formation, the carving out of these darker regions pushes gas together, causing it to ignite into successive generations of stars. See the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer webpage for infrared images and more science: http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/gallery_Heart_Soul.html