The Heart Nebula

About 7500 light-years away, IC 1805 is known as the Heart Nebula. It is a classic nebula of ionized hydrogen gas in Cassiopeia that is glowing from the intense radiation of some hot stars in the core (which gives it it’s orange/red color.) The small ball in the corner is NGC 896, which is a similar, smaller emission nebula.

November 1, 2024

Completely reprocessed in PixInsight.

Technical Details

Imaging Telescope: William Optics RedCat 51 II

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro

Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro

Filter: Antlia Tri-band RGB Ultra Filter - 2” Mounted

Accessories: ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF, ZWO Filter Drawer (Gen 2)

Software: PixInsight, Starnet, BlurXterminator, NoiseXterminator

Guiding Telescope: William Optics UniGuide 32

Guiding Camera: ZWO ASI174MM

Imaging Dates: Jan. 2, 2024

Frames (gain 101.0) f/4.9 -10c: 30x180” (1h30m)

Integration Time: 1h30m

Darks/Flats/Dark Flats: 30/30/30

Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 6.00

January 3, 2024

My first image of the Heart Nebula. Only an hour and a half of data on this one so far, but I was eager to give it a go! I found this target very difficult to image from my location, as it's toward the northern sky, which is toward my greatest source of light pollution. I tried before with a UV/IR cut filter and it just didn't give me satisfactory results. This is the my second attempt on the target, but this time with an Antlia Tri-band filter, and boy what a difference it makes! The nebulosity pops out pretty well (thought maybe not as well as with a more narrow dual band filter), but I'm very pleased with the image overall: the star color is good, and the gains on the nebulosity were significant over my UV/IR cut filter.