The Heart Nebula, IC1805, is an emission nebula with glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes. It is about 7500 light years away from Earth, in the constellation Cassiopeia.
This and the nearby Soul Nebula form the famous pair known as the Heart and Soul.
This four-panel mosaic was acquired over four nights, but each night wasn't dedicated to just one panel. For mosaics I divide each night's imaging time among all the panels, so at least I'll have something on each panel if subsequent nights are wiped out by weather.
| Exposure |
• Four mosaic panels over four nights • 5⅔ hours total exposure per panel • 34 subframes per panel, each 10 minutes @ -20°C • Dusk flats • Camera position angle: 106.9° |
| Processing |
• With PixInsight: ☞ Calibrate, star-align, and integrate subframes ☞ Background neutralization ☞ Coordinate-align subframes ☞ Photometric mosaic ☞ Histogram transformation • Noise reduction with Topaz DeNoise AI • Final sizing in Photoshop CS6 |
| Date and Location |
• 2020: November 13, 16, 17, 18 • Louisa County, Virginia, USA |
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Equipment |
• TMB-130SS APO refractor @ f/7 on an A-P 1200 mount • ZWO ASI-1600MC Pro color camera • Guided with an ST-402 camera on a 60mm f/5 scope • Imaging and autoguiding with MaxIm DL 6.20 • Automated image acquisition with ACP Observatory Control |
Updated May 23, 2023