December 17, 2024
On your birthday, the Earth completed another orbit — 584 million miles traveled since your last celebration.
Near to the Heart Nebula
Birthday · December 17, 2024
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published December 17, 2024. Credit: Jeff Horne & Drew Evans. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What excites the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission nebula on the upper left, catalogued as IC 1805, looks somewhat like a human heart. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element, hydrogen, but this long-exposure image was also blended with light emitted by sulfur (yellow) and oxygen (blue). In the center of the Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque dust pillars with their atom-exciting energetic light and winds. The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation of Cassiopeia. This wide field image shows much more, though, including the Fishhead Nebula just below the Heart, a supernova remnant on the lower left, and three planetary nebulas on the image right. Taken over 57 nights, this image is so deep, though, that it clearly shows fainter long and complex filaments.
Image credit: Jeff Horne & Drew Evans