Orion ED80 Refractor Reduced 0.8
QSI 583WSG
Astrodon 5nm Ha
7x15min binned 1x1
Imager Temp -20C
Full Frame

Link to larger JPEG

Taken as the clouds rolled in, as they usually do here in Ohio. The last two frames seemed to have lost contrast, so were probably through some thin clouds. Also, the full moon was directly south in Pisces.

Located 7500 light years away in the Perseus arm, in the constellation Cassiopeia, IC1805 spans approximately 200 light years. This large emission nebula is excited into glow by the central cluster at it's core, Melotte 15, a young (1.5 million years old) cluster of massive blue hot stars - some being more than 50 solar masses. Dark knots of dust intersperse the nebula giving it the shape of a heart. The cavitated appearance of IC 1805 is truly a 300 light year cavity blown out by the stellar winds and ultraviolet radiation from Melotte 15.

Small open cluster Markarian 6 is located at the very bottom of the field. Catalogued by Beniamin Egishe Markarian who did much work regarding open clusters, but remains more famous for the galaxy cluster bearing his name.

IC 1805 is physically linked to LBN 667 (IC 1848 - the Soul Nebula).

October 22, 2010