Print - Shot to the Heart (Melotte 15)

The Heart Nebula is located 7,500 light years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. Melotte 15 is a cluster of stars in the center of the nebula that illuminates the surrounding interstellar dust and gases. These hot stars are also generating stellar winds that are shaping the nebula into these spiral structures!

This image is the integration of 374 photographs, a majority of which were 15-minute exposures, with a total integration time of 60 hours. Photos were taken between October 5^th and December 22^nd, 2023 from Sierra Remote Observatories in California. Photographs were captured with Sulfur, Hydrogen, and Oxygen filters to highlight the dense gasses in the region, and stars were captured with red, green, and blue filters.

Equipment:   Planewave CDK14 telescope
                        QHY600M camera
                        Planewave L300 mount
                        Astrodon filters in L,R,G,B and S, H, O

Software:      PixInsight
Russel Crowman’s: BlurX, StarX, NoiseX
Photoshop