Target
IC 1848 — The Soul Nebula
Frame / Rev
011 / A
Integration
32h 24m
Catalog
IC 1848
Class
Emission nebula
Constellation
Cassiopeia
Distance
6,500 ly
Coordinates
RA 02h 54m 34s · Dec +60° 18′32″
Palette
SHO
Sessions
8 nights · Feb 2026
Sky
Bortle 9
Target & processing
Within the Soul Nebula, IC 1848 unfolds as a labyrinth of glowing hydrogen and shadowed dust, illuminated by the young stars of its embedded cluster. Pillars and dark ridges stretch through the nebula like silhouettes, revealing a turbulent landscape where stellar radiation slowly reshapes the clouds.
I was proud of this one too. I tried to process it similarly to the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) as they are sister nebula.
Note to self
This was the first target with the new 3nm filters
Per-filter integration
Hα 39.1% · 12h 40mSII 25.5% · 8h 15mOIII 29.6% · 9h 35mR 2.1% · 0h 40mG 1.7% · 0h 34mB 2% · 0h 40m
KeptRejected at integration
Equipment
Optics
William Optics RedCat 51 · 250mm f/4.9
Camera
QHY MiniCam8M · IMX585 · 2.9µm / px
Filters
XiMei 3nm 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
