IC 1805 is a bright heart-shaped emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. The open cluster in the center of IC 1805 is Melotte 15 that contains several extremely large stars whose intense radiation ionizes the hydrogen gas in the region. To the lower left of IC 1805 is the bright nebula NGC 896. To the mid-right of IC 1805 is the open cluster NGC 1027. The image encompasses a vast region with the image scale being approximately 3.1 x 2 degrees.
The image was taken with a Canon 60Da DSLR (ISO 800) and a Takahashi FSQ 106ED with focal reducer (f/3.6; focal length = 385 mm) on an Astro-Physics 1200 mount. Image was a total of 6 hours 15 minutes exposure [75 x 300 sec lights (guided with a Takahashi Mewlon 300/SBIG ST-i); 12 darks; 128 bias; 64 flats]. Images selected (SubframeSelector), calibrated (using a “superbias” master), registered, integrated, and processed in PixInsight 1.8.3.1115.