February 14, 2018
The stars above are ancient, but your chance to be here is exquisitely temporary.
In the Heart of the Heart Nebula
Birthday · February 14, 2018
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published February 14, 2018. Credit: Alan Erickson. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What's that inside the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart. It's shape perhaps fitting of the Valentine's Day, this heart glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrogen. The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars near the nebula's center. In the heart of the Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque dust pillars with their energetic light and winds. The open cluster of stars contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an absent microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago. The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation of the mythological Queen of Aethiopia (Cassiopeia).
Image credit: Alan Erickson