Target
IC 1805 — The Heart Nebula
Frame / Rev
010 / A
Integration
40h 25m
Catalog
IC 1805
Class
Emission nebula
Constellation
Cassiopeia
Distance
7,500 ly
Coordinates
RA 02h 33m 22s · Dec +61° 26′36″
Palette
SHO
Sessions
8 nights · Sep 2025
Sky
Bortle 9
Target & processing
At the heart of the Heart Nebula, IC 1805 glows like a vast celestial furnace in Cassiopeia, its red hydrogen clouds shaped by the young stars of the Melotte 15 cluster. Dark filaments drift across the luminous gas, tracing a landscape sculpted by stellar winds and the restless birth of stars.
I'm proud of this one. It was the first time I spent as much time on acquisition and processing, and it was the first that I would feel comfortable sharing with others.
Note to self
I still like it so I won't reprocess it soon, although it could be improved
Per-filter integration
Hα 19.4% · 7h 50mSII 44.1% · 17h 50mOIII 29.1% · 11h 45mR 2.5% · 1h 00mG 2.5% · 1h 00mB 2.4% · 1h 00m
KeptRejected at integration
Equipment
Optics
William Optics RedCat 51 · 250mm f/4.9
Camera
QHY MiniCam8M · IMX585 · 2.9µm / px
Filters
XiMei 7nm Hα / OIII / SII + XiMei Broadband R / G / B
Mount
ZWO AM3 harmonic, no counterweight
Guiding
Uniguide 32mm + ZWO ASI120MM Mini
Control
Mele Quieter 4C · NINA + PHD2
Site
Montréal, QC · Bortle 9 · 45.5° N
Adjacent frames
