Dragon Rider Nebula (IC1805 – Mellotte 15)

I imagine here a large dragon (going right to left), which is being rode by a human (the bright vertical strip right in center and just left of the bright blue star close to center). So I name this image as ‘Dragon Rider Nebula’.

This nebula is part of a much larger structure traditionally named Heart Nebula, which is of course too large for my telescope. The center of this heart nebula has an open star cluster and that’s why you see lot of large stars in this image. This cluster (star clusters are groups of stars born from the same nebula) is named as Mellotte 15 in a star catalog.

About 1.5 million years young, the cluster stars are scattered in this skyscape, along with the emission nebula of hydrogen gas. The view spans about 15 light-years and is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia.

Heart-of-heart-Web

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