Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Melotte 15 in the Heart

NASA ^ | November 09, 2012 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Cosmic clouds seem to form fantastic shapes in the central regions of emission nebula IC 1805. Of course, the clouds are sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from massive hot stars in the nebula's newborn star cluster, Melotte 15. About 1.5 million years young, the cluster stars are toward the right in this colorful skyscape, along with dark dust clouds in silhouette against glowing atomic gas. A composite of narrow and broad band telescopic images, the view spans about 30 light-years and includes emission from hydrogen in green, sulfur in red, and oxygen in blue hues. Wider field images reveal that IC 1805's simpler, overall outline suggests its popular name - The Heart Nebula. IC 1805 is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit & Copyright: Stefano Cancelli, Paul Mortfield]

[SunkenCiv]

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[BlessingsofLiberty]

Amazing colors...

Thanks!

BoL

[blueunicorn6]

Looks like Napoleon’s retreat from Russia to me.

[TheOldLady]

Can’t see anything even vaguely resembling a heart, human or stylized, even from across the room.

Sigh... No imagination, I guess.

[Doc Savage]

Thanks for all the wonderful pictures over the last15 years. Two questions: 1. The light we see in the stars has been traveling here for a very long time. How do we know they have not 'blinked' out since that light left the star?

2. If the Big Bang started from an unbelievably powerful singularity,...after the explosion what did it expand into,...nothingness? And if we could stand at the edge of the Universe (if there is such a thing), what would we see,...nothingness. I mean does nothingness exist?

[SunkenCiv]

In relation to your second question, in the Big Bang model, the universe is finite, yet unbounded. In the related multiverse model, there are many universes, but they don’t overlap, and each may operate under different physical laws.

In answer to your second question, there’s no way to know until the light stops.

[SunkenCiv]

[singing] and the beat goes on...

[TheOldLady]

For the nonce.