IC 1805：心脏星云

2019 September 11

IC 1805: The Heart Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls

Explanation: What energizes the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrogen. The red glow and the larger shape are all powered by a small group of stars near the nebula’s center. In the center of the Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque dust pillars with their energetic light and winds. The open cluster of stars contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an absent microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago. The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation of Cassiopeia. Coincidentally, a small meteor was captured in the foreground during imaging and is visible above the dust pillars. At the top right is the companion Fishhead Nebula.

IC 1805：心脏星云
影像来源与版权: Bray Falls

说明：是什么激发了心脏星云？首先，被编号为IC 1805的庞大发射星云看起来像一颗人类的心脏。该星云散发的明亮红光是由其最重要的组成元素氢发出的。而红光和大尺度结构都是来自星云中心附近一小部分恒星的激发。在心脏星云的中心是疏散星团Melotte 15的年轻恒星，它们正以其高能星光和恒星风侵蚀着多个独特的尘埃柱。这个疏散星团包含了一些将近50倍太阳质量的明亮恒星，许多只具有太阳质量很小一部分的黯淡恒星，以及一颗在数百万年前被驱逐的微类星体。心脏星云位于仙后座方向，距离我们约7,500光年远处。巧合的是，一颗小流星在成像过程的前景中被捕捉到，在尘埃柱上方可见。影像的右上方是邻近的鱼头星云。