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APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 5:05 am
by APOD Robot
The Heart and Soul Nebulas
Explanation: Is the heart and soul of our Galaxy located in
Cassiopeia? Possibly not, but that is where two bright
emission nebulas nicknamed
Heart and Soul can be found. The
Heart Nebula, officially dubbed
IC 1805 and visible in the featured image on the upper right, has a shape reminiscent of a classical
heart symbol. The shape is perhaps fitting for
Valentine's Day. The
Soul Nebula is officially designated IC 1871 and is visible on the lower left.
Both nebulas shine brightly in the red light of
energized hydrogen, one of three colors shown in
this three-color montage.
Light takes about 6,000 years to reach us from
these nebulas, which together span roughly 300
light years.
Studies of stars and clusters like those found in the
Heart and
Soul nebulas have focused on how massive
stars form and how they
affect their environment.
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 6:03 am
by Ann
A very good thing about today's APOD is that the Heart and Soul nebulas are shown in glorious RGB+Hα color. These nebulas just look so good in romantic shades of red and pink, and they don't look as attractive when shown in other palettes.
Of course, I do like the image below by Mario Zauner, because the heart shape of the Heart Nebula is so particularly obvious there!
- People with heart eyes.png (39.36 KiB) Viewed 3956 times
Ann
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 6:13 am
by AVAO
Ann wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 6:03 am
A very good thing about today's APOD is that the Heart and Soul nebulas are shown in glorious
RGB+Hα color.
Ann
... In this case, the description in the APOD is rather confusing...
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:03 pm
by Knight of Clear Skies
I made this HaRGB/IR composite image using WISE data to show how the stellar winds from the hot stars at its core have swept the dust from the centre of the Heart nebula:
https://stargazerslounge.com/uploads/mo ... 8a4411.JPG
It's the inner surface of a much larger structure that's ionized and visible at optical wavelengths.
There are also a couple of galaxies at lower right which are almost invisible optically, Maffei 1 & 2 which were first discovered in 1967 by an early IR survey.
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:40 pm
by orin stepanek
Happy Valentine's Day!
Kitty impacting the environment!
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 5:04 pm
by johnnydeep
In truth, neither heart nor soul do I rightly see, though in insight might I deficient be. And if there is any heart shape here, it is that of a real human heart (
), not the symbolic (
) one! Plus, the "soul" here looks more like a real human fetus (facing upward, head to the left) in utero. Though perhaps, because "the child is father of the man" (per William Wordsworth), the fetus can be said to be its soul...
https://www.thoughtco.com/child-is-the-father-of-man-3975052 wrote:My Heart Leaps Up
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2023 9:03 pm
by AVAO
Knight of Clear Skies wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:03 pm
I made this HaRGB/IR composite image using WISE data to show how the stellar winds from the hot stars at its core have swept the dust from the centre of the Heart nebula:
https://stargazerslounge.com/uploads/mo ... 8a4411.JPG
It's the inner surface of a much larger structure that's ionized and visible at optical wavelengths.
There are also a couple of galaxies at lower right which are almost invisible optically, Maffei 1 & 2 which were first discovered in 1967 by an early IR survey.
ThanX - Cool thing! I wasn't aware that Maffei 1 & 2 was so close.
https://stargazerslounge.com/uploads/mo ... 8a4411.JPG
Maffei 2 overlay IR / HST
jac berne (flickr)
okkk
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:24 am
by Ann
Knight of Clear Skies wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:03 pm
I made this HaRGB/IR composite image using WISE data to show how the stellar winds from the hot stars at its core have swept the dust from the centre of the Heart nebula:
https://stargazerslounge.com/uploads/mo ... 8a4411.JPG
It's the inner surface of a much larger structure that's ionized and visible at optical wavelengths.
There are also a couple of galaxies at lower right which are almost invisible optically, Maffei 1 & 2 which were first discovered in 1967 by an early IR survey.
Thank you! How fascinating! Like AVAO, I wasn't aware that Maffei 1 and 2 are so close to the Heart Nebula.
Thanks again!
Ann
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:46 pm
by johnnydeep
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:24 am
Knight of Clear Skies wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:03 pm
I made this HaRGB/IR composite image using WISE data to show how the stellar winds from the hot stars at its core have swept the dust from the centre of the Heart nebula:
https://stargazerslounge.com/uploads/mo ... 8a4411.JPG
It's the inner surface of a much larger structure that's ionized and visible at optical wavelengths.
There are also a couple of galaxies at lower right which are almost invisible optically, Maffei 1 & 2 which were first discovered in 1967 by an early IR survey.
Thank you! How fascinating! Like AVAO, I wasn't aware that Maffei 1 and 2 are so close to the Heart Nebula.
Thanks again!
Ann
Indeed! Here's another pic from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_342/Maffei_Group that shows Maffei 1 as a VERY blue lenticular galaxy:
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:10 pm
by Ann
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:46 pm
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:24 am
Knight of Clear Skies wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:03 pm
I made this HaRGB/IR composite image using WISE data to show how the stellar winds from the hot stars at its core have swept the dust from the centre of the Heart nebula:
https://stargazerslounge.com/uploads/mo ... 8a4411.JPG
It's the inner surface of a much larger structure that's ionized and visible at optical wavelengths.
There are also a couple of galaxies at lower right which are almost invisible optically, Maffei 1 & 2 which were first discovered in 1967 by an early IR survey.
Thank you! How fascinating! Like AVAO, I wasn't aware that Maffei 1 and 2 are so close to the Heart Nebula.
Thanks again!
Ann
Indeed! Here's another pic from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_342/Maffei_Group that shows Maffei 1 as a VERY blue lenticular galaxy:
A galaxy that is mapped as very blue in infrared images is a very non-blue galaxy when it comes to optical light and the presence of hot blue stars!
In infrared images, cool stars are shown as blue, whereas dust and nebulas are shown as red.
A galaxy that looks all blue in infrared images lacks dust, and therefore it also lacks young blue stars. The reason why Maffei 2 looks less blue than Maffei 1 is that Maffei 1 is a starforming galaxy that contains dust.
Ann
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:26 pm
by johnnydeep
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:10 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:46 pm
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:24 am
Thank you! How fascinating! Like AVAO, I wasn't aware that Maffei 1 and 2 are so close to the Heart Nebula.
Thanks again!
Ann
Indeed! Here's another pic from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_342/Maffei_Group that shows Maffei 1 as a VERY blue lenticular galaxy:
A galaxy that is mapped as very blue in infrared images is a very non-blue galaxy when it comes to optical light and the presence of hot blue stars!
In infrared images, cool stars are shown as blue, whereas dust and nebulas are shown as red.
Ann
Thanks, good to know. Ah, The Sombrero galaxy - they don't come more awe inspiringly magnificent than that! And did you notice how
RED that intriguing pair of almost identical galaxies (
@@) look in IR on the lower left?!
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:46 pm
by Ann
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:26 pm
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:10 pm
A galaxy that is mapped as very blue in infrared images is a very non-blue galaxy when it comes to optical light and the presence of hot blue stars!
In infrared images, cool stars are shown as blue, whereas dust and nebulas are shown as red.
Ann
Thanks, good to know. Ah, The Sombrero galaxy - they don't come more awe inspiringly magnificent than that! And did you notice how
RED that intriguing pair of almost identical galaxies (
@@) look in IR on the lower left?!
They are a mean pair of galaxies, chock full of dust and young blue stars!
Unfortunately, I have not managed to find out what they are called.
Ann
Re: APOD: The Heart and Soul Nebulas (2023 Feb 14)
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:01 pm
by johnnydeep
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:46 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:26 pm
Ann wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:10 pm
A galaxy that is mapped as very blue in infrared images is a very non-blue galaxy when it comes to optical light and the presence of hot blue stars!
In infrared images, cool stars are shown as blue, whereas dust and nebulas are shown as red.
Ann
Thanks, good to know. Ah, The Sombrero galaxy - they don't come more awe inspiringly magnificent than that! And did you notice how
RED that intriguing pair of almost identical galaxies (
@@) look in IR on the lower left?!
Background spiral galaxies south of M104 Hubble.png
They are a mean pair of galaxies, chock full of dust and young blue stars!
Unfortunately, I have not managed to find out what they are called.
Ann
Geckzilla said this in 2015 - see the discussion at:
Re: APOD: M104: The Sombrero Galaxy (2015 Feb 05)
geckzilla wrote: ↑Thu Feb 05, 2015 10:01 pm
2MASX J12400754-1140015
CXOU J124007.15-114001.8
Not much to go on. They aren't studied beyond noting that one exists and the other has an x-ray source within it. Most of these small/distant galaxies are anonymous.