﻿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2022 February 14 [2]The featured image shows what IC 1805 the Heart Nebula including an internal star cluster and internal pillars of gas and dust. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. In the Heart of the Heart Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Adam Jensen Explanation: What excites the Heart Nebula? First, the large [4]emission nebula dubbed [5]IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a [6]human heart. Its shape perhaps fitting of the [7]Valentine's Day, this heart glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: [8]excited [9]hydrogen. The red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars near the [10]nebula's center. In the heart of the [11]Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star cluster [12]Melotte 15 that are eroding away several [13]picturesque dust pillars with their energetic light and winds. The [14]open cluster of stars contains a few [15]bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our Sun, and an [16]absent microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago. The [17]Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 [18]light years away toward the [19]constellation of the [20]mythological Queen of Aethiopia ([21]Cassiopeia). Tomorrow's picture: terminator moon __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2202/HeartB_Jensen_3925.jpg 3. mailto: adam-jensen at hotmail dot com 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130304.html 6. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/heart/heartmap.html 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_state 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141018.html 11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170210.html 13. http://www.fearfuladventurer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/dust_bunny.jpg 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_cluster 15. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006A&A...456.1121D/abstract 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040916.html 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Nebula 18. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html 19. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellations/en/ 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_(mother_of_Andromeda) 21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiopeia_(constellation) 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220213.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220214 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220215.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 42. http://www.mtu.edu/