Approximately 7500 light years away in the central region of The Heart Nebula (IC 1805), lies a cluster of young hot stars known as Melotte 15. The clouds of dust and gas in and around Melotte 15 are sculpted by the violent stellar winds and cosmic radiation emanating from the young cluster. Melotte 15 can be found in the constellation Cassiopeia and has an apparent magnitude of 6.60.
Telescope: Stellarvue Raptor SVR105 @ f/7
Accessories: Stellarvue SFF7-21 flattener; Dew control by Dew Buster
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G controlled by EQMOD
Guiding: TS-OAG9 Off-axis, using a Starlight Xpress Lodestar via PHD
Camera: QHY9-C one-shot color CCD @ -20.0C
Acquisition: ImagesPlus 4.00 Camera Control
Hydrogen-Alpha Data:
Filters: Astronomik 6nm H-alpha; Astronomik IR-block
Exposure: 53 x 15min. (13hr. 15min.)
Processing: ImagesPlus 3.80a – Calibrated, registered, Sigma-clipped average, DDP
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop CS4; Carboni’s Tools
Date(s): October 16, 17, 18, 2010
RGB Data:
Filters: Astronomik CLS; Astronomik IR-block
Exposure: 99 x 5min. (8hr. 15min.)
Processing: ImagesPlus 3.80a – Calibrated, registered, Sigma-clipped average, DDP
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop CS4; Gradient XTerminator; HLVG
Date(s): October 27, 29, 2010