What powers the Heart Nebula? The large emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] dubbed IC 1805 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] looks, in whole, like a human heart [ http://www.pbs.org/…]. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrogen [ http://en.wikipedia…]. The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars near the nebula's center. A close up spanning about 30 light years [ http://chandra.harv…] contains many of these stars is shown above [ http://www.cfht.haw…] in a recent image taken by the Canada France Hawaii Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. This open cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] 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 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that was expelled millions of years ago. The Heart Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is located about 7,500 light years [ http://starchild.gs…] away toward the constellation [ http://www.mallorca…] of Cassiopeia [ http://www.seds.org…].
Explanation
What powers the Heart Nebula? The large emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] dubbed IC 1805 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] looks, in whole, like a human heart [ http://www.pbs.org/…]. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrogen [ http://en.wikipedia…]. The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars near the nebula's center. A close up spanning about 30 light years [ http://chandra.harv…] contains many of these stars is shown above [ http://www.cfht.haw…] in a recent image taken by the Canada France Hawaii Telescope [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. This open cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] 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 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that was expelled millions of years ago. The Heart Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is located about 7,500 light years [ http://starchild.gs…] away toward the constellation [ http://www.mallorca…] of Cassiopeia [ http://www.seds.org…].
