Melotte 15 in Cassiopeia
Cosmic clouds form fantastic shapes in the central regions of emission nebula IC 1805. The clouds are sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the nebula’s newborn star cluster, Melotte 15. About 1.5 million years young, the cluster stars are scattered in this colorful skyscape, along with dark dust clouds in silhouette against glowing atomic gas.
Wider field images reveal that IC 1805’s simpler, overall outline suggests its popular name — The Heart Nebula. IC 1805 is located about 7,500 light years away toward the boastful constellation Cassiopeia.
[description from APOD]
Details
Telescope:
RCOS 14.5” f/8
Mount:
ASA DDM85
Camera:
Apogee U16M
Filters:
Astrodon Gen2
Exposure:
HaLRGB 800:480:220:180:180 min.
Location:
ROSA Remote Observatories Southern Alps
Author:
© Martin Rusterholz, Astrophotographer
Hello, my name is Martin Rusterholz. I’m a Swiss amateur astrophotographer living near Zurich, the biggest town in Switzerland. My interest in astronomy started when I was 16. At that time, I built my first Newtonian telescope and mount. I studied physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) which was the only study including at least some aspects of astronomy and astrophysics.
“Looking at the nights sky is an experience touching everybody deeply inside, something common to all human beings independent to the language spoken by the individuals”.
Deep-sky astrophotography is my passion. 