APOD: IC 1848: The Soul Nebula (2016 Feb 28)

[APOD Robot]

IC 1848: The Soul Nebula

Explanation: Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethiopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, who Greek mythology credits as the vain wife of a King who long ago ruled lands surrounding the upper Nile river. The Soul Nebula houses several open clusters of stars, a large radio source known as W5, and huge evacuated bubbles formed by the winds of young massive stars. Located about 6,500 light years away, the Soul Nebula spans about 100 light years and is usually imaged next to its celestial neighbor the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). The featured image appears mostly red due to the emission of a specific color of light emitted by excited hydrogen gas.

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[BobStein-VisiBone]

Aethopia → Aethiopia

[Ann]

Oh, it's so nice to see an RGB portrait of a nebula as an APOD! And congratulations, Roberto Colombari, your APOD is so well-deserved. You are definitely one of my favorite astrophotograpers here at Starship Asterisk*!

Actually, it is probably an HαRGB image. I was unable to find any technical details of the image, as the featured image link took me to an error message.

But Hα or not, please enjoy the colors of the nebula. The "edge" of it, where gas and some dust is piling up, is bright red. This is slightly similar to Barnard's Loop.

Click to view full size image

The Lagoon Nebula, framed by piled-up
red-glowing gas. Photo: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo.

But even a famous nebula like the Lagoon Nebula has exactly this "red edge" surrounding it. As far as I can understand, Ignacio didn't use an Hα filter for his image.

Like IC 1848, the Lagoon Nebula is divided into two parts. The prominent dust lane that has given the Lagoon Nebula its name is the dividing line. On the left side of it is the cluster NGC 6530, and on the right side is the powerful O6-type star 9 Sgr and the newborn star Herschel 36.

IC 1848 is similarly divided into two parts. The left part is centered on O7V-type star HD 18326, and the larger, right part contains several O-type stars: SAO 12499, spectral class O7.5V, HD 17520, spectral class O8V+O9, HD 237019, O8V, and HD 17505, an evolved O-type binary star.

Note how the inner, rarefied part of the nebula is tinted with blue. These parts are quite near the hot stars, and they likely contain quite a lot of green-colored OIII emission. There might also be appreciable amounts of bluish Hβ, as well as tiny amounts of dust reflecting the blue color of the stars.

Personally I have always thought that the moniker "Soul Nebula" is a bad name for IC 1848. It clearly looks like a baby, lying on its back, head to the left, (fat) body to the right. It's the Baby Nebula to me! Or, better yet perhaps, the Fetus Nebula?

Click to view full size image

IC 1848. Photo: Tom Diana.

Just check it out - the image at left by Tom Diana makes the Fetus Nebula look like a human fetus floating in its amniotic sac!

Ann

[rcolombari]

Hi Ann!
Thanks a lot for appreciating. It is just a RGB image.

I clicked on the link and it works, isn't it?

Bests,
Roberto

[Ann]

Yes, now the link works for me!

Ann

[heehaw]

Aethopia → Aethiopia

And today's ESPOD, second paragraph, "effect the stream" should be "affect the stream."

[jena h]

Hasn't anyone noticed that this nebula has the same basic outline as the continental US? The curve of California... the jutting-out of Texas... a hint of the Florida peninsula... more curves around North Carolina/Virginia.... and up into the point of Maine. Really? Not a single mention??

[BobStein-VisiBone]

Good visual, Ann! How about the Amniotic Nebula?

[Ann]

Good visual, Ann! How about the Amniotic Nebula?

That's a good idea!

Ann

[Tekija]

...

The newly incarnated mayfiles.
Bright fluttering stars above the river.

The silent greeting from a satellite
sailing through Cassiopeia.

Dan Gerber
Sailing through Cassiopeia
2013

[Boomer12k]

Great detail, and nice black Blob, just up and to the right of center.

:---[===] *

[Fred the Cat]

I've always pictured Cassiopeia as a woman sitting reclined knees bent head back.

To me it seems very obvious but I suspect others see it differently.