by Craig and Tammy Temple
This area in Cassiopeia is an intense emission region. These 2 nebulae, commonly referred to as the Heart and Soul Nebulae glow brightly in hydrogen-alpha gas. The Heart Nebula is energized by the small grouping of stars near the center (Melotte 15). At the lower left lies its brightest area, NGC896. The Soul Nebula resembles a fetus, and contains the open cluster IC1848. The Soul itself is cataloged as Sh2-199. In this image, North is down.
Lens: Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L USM II (at f/4)
Accessories: N/A
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G controlled by EQMOD
Guiding: Orion StarShoot AutoGuider on Orion 80ED
Camera: Self-modified Canon Digital Rebel XT
Filters: Astronomik 6nm H-Alpha EOS Clip
Exposure: 24 x 600sec @ ISO 1600 (4hr.)
Acquisition: ImagesPlus 3.75 Camera Control
Processing: ImagesPlus 3.75 – Calibrated, registered, Min-Max excluded averaged, DDP
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop CS4; Gradient XTerminator; Noise Ninja
Date(s): November 6, 2009
Temperature(s): 65ºF (dropped to 54ºF)
SQM reading (begin - end): 18.89 – 19.01 mags./sq. Arcsec