Nathan Brandt Astrophotography

The Heart (IC 1805) and Soul (Sharpless 2-199) Nebula Mosaic

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Nov 112013

: Heart and Soul Mosaic

The Heart Nebula, IC 1805, Sh2-190, lies some 7500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. This is an emission nebula showing glowing gas and darker dust lanes. The nebula is formed by plasma of ionized hydrogen and free electrons.

The very brightest part of this nebula (the knot at the right) is separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of this nebula to be discovered.

The nebula’s intense red output and its configuration are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of stars near the nebula’s center. This open cluster of stars known as Melotte 15 contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun’s mass. The cluster used to contain a microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago.

Description courtesy of Wikipedia

Soul Nebula (Sharpless 2-199, LBN 667) is emission nebulae in Cassiopeia. Several small open clusters are embedded in the nebula: CR 34, 632, and 634^{[citation needed]} (in the head) and IC1848 (in the body). The object is more commonly called by the cluster designation IC1848.

Small emission nebula IC 1871 is present just left of the top of the head, and small emission nebulae 670 and 669 are just below the lower back area.

This complex is the eastern neighbor of IC1805 (Heart Nebula) and the two are often mentioned together as the “Heart and Soul”.

Description courtesy of Wikipedia

IC 5146 – The Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus

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Nov 112013

: IC 5146 – The Cocoon Nebula

IC 5146 (also Caldwell 19, Sh 2-125, and the Cocoon Nebula) is a reflection^[1]/emission^[2] nebula and Caldwell object in the constellation Cygnus. The NGC description refers to IC 5146 as a cluster of 9.5 mag stars involved in a bright and dark nebula. The cluster is also known as Collinder 470.^[3] It shines at magnitude +10.0^[4]/+9.3^[2]/+7.2.^[5] Its celestial coordinates are RA 21^h 53.5^m, dec+47° 16′. It is located near the naked-eye star Pi Cygni, the open cluster NGC 7209 in Lacerta, and the bright open cluster M39.^[1]^[4] The cluster is about 4,000 ly away, and the central star that lights it formed about 100,000 years ago;^[6] the nebula is about 12 arcmins across, which is equivalent to a span of 15 light years.^[5] When viewing IC 5146, dark nebula Barnard 168 (B168) is an inseparable part of the experience, forming a dark lane that surrounds the cluster and projects westward forming the appearance of a trail behind the Cocoon.

Description Courtesy of Wikipedia

The Running Man Nebula – NGC 1977

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Nov 112013

: The Running Man NGC 1977

NGC 1973/5/7 is a reflection nebula 1/2 degree northeast of the Orion Nebula. The three NGC objects are divided by darker regions. It is also called The Running Man Nebula and Sharpless Catalog 279.

This object was named ‘The Running Man Nebula’ by Texas Astronomical Society member Jason Ware. Approximately 20 years ago his down stairs neighbor looked at the object and said it looked like a running man. He brought this up a TAS club meeting and the name stuck. Now widely accepted as ‘The Running Man’.

Description Courtesy of Wikipedia

The Flaming Star Nebula

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Oct 282013

: IC 405 – The Flaming Star

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission/reflection nebula^[1] in the constellation Auriga, surrounding the bluish star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05^h 16.2^m dec +34° 28′.^[2] It surrounds the irregular variable star AE Aurigae and is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the naked-eye K-class star Hassaleh. The nebula measures approximately 37.0′ x 19.0′, and lies about 1,500 light-years away.^[2] It is believed that the proper motion of the central star can be traced back to the Orion’s Belt area.^[2] The nebula is about 5 light-years across.^[1]