Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 September 11 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. IC 1805: The Heart Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Bray Falls Explanation: What energizes the Heart Nebula? First, the large [4]emission nebula dubbed [5]IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a [6]human heart. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: [7]hydrogen. The red glow and the larger shape are all powered by a small group of stars near the [8]nebula's center. In the center of the [9]Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster [10]Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque [11]dust pillars with their [12]energetic light and winds. The [13]open cluster of stars contains a few [14]bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our [15]Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an [16]absent microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago. The [17]Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 [18]light years away toward the [19]constellation of [20]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 [21]Fishhead Nebula. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1909/HeartNebula_Falls_2378.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/astrofalls/ 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040917.html 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWkeidr2T8o 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141018.html 9. https://www.instagram.com/p/B1zDeLAFp8p/ 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131227.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160424.html 12. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves 13. http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=18009 14. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006A&A...456.1121D/abstract 15. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/ 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040916.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031022.html 18. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html 19. http://modernconstellations.com/constellationhistory.html 20. http://messier.seds.org/map/Cas.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141224.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190910.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190911 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190912.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 42. http://www.mtu.edu/