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The Soul
Emission nebula · Cassiopeia

The Soul

IC 1848

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Description

In the constellation of Cassiopeia drifts a vast cloud of gas that astronomers named the Soul. Together with its neighbour the Heart, it forms one of the sky's most poetic pairs. Its light reaches us after a journey of 6,500 to 7,500 light-years, depending on the estimates.

The Soul is a stellar nursery: a cloud of hydrogen where young, massive stars only a few million years old have just ignited. Their radiation makes the gas glow and, as it erodes it, sculpts thick columns of dust standing like fingers, the signature of a region still in full creation. Several small star clusters are nestled within it (CR 34, 632, 634).

The dust columns (the 'fingers') sculpted and eroded by the radiation of the Soul's young massive stars.
The dust columns (the 'fingers') sculpted and eroded by the radiation of the Soul's young massive stars.
A small globule of dark dust standing at the edge of the bright cavity, its silhouette evoking a little figure.
A small globule of dark dust standing at the edge of the bright cavity, its silhouette evoking a little figure.

The whole nebula is often referred to by the name of the cluster it hosts, IC 1848. But the Soul is the entire cloud. This image is a close-up of it.

Technical details

Location :
Winenne
Date :
06/08/2022
Celestial Coordinates :
RA: 02h 54m 58s
Dec: +30° 27' 47"
Acquisition :
59 x 240 (3h56)
Calibration :
Offsets + Flats
Mount :
HEQ5 + kit Rowan
Optics :
SW 150/750N
Camera :
Asi2600Mc Pro
Filter :
Optolong L-Extreme
Distance :
7500 light years
Constellation :
Cassiopeia
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