This image shows the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) in Cassiopeia, a vast emission nebula and active region of star formation where young, hot stars illuminate surrounding hydrogen clouds. Its apparent size spanning nearly 2°, about four times the apparent diameter of the full Moon on the sky and ideal for wide-field imaging.

In the same field lies the tiny planetary nebula WeBo 1 (PN G135.6+01.0) — a striking contrast to IC 1805. While the Heart Nebula represents stellar birth, WeBo 1 shows a star near the end of its life.

📷 WeBo1_crop_Astrobin.pngWeBo 1 appears as an ellipse measuring about 64″ × 22″, but it is not truly elliptical. Studies show it is actually a very thin circular ring seen at an inclination of ~69°, which makes it appear elongated from our viewpoint. Its angular size of 64 arcseconds means it is only about 1/28 the apparent diameter of the Moon, and more than 100× smaller than IC 1805 in the sky.

At the estimated distance of ~1.6 kpc, this corresponds to a physical diameter of about 0.48 light-years — roughly 30,000 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Light itself would need about six months to travel from one side of the ring to the other.

📷 WeBo1_Data & Bond et al..pngA detailed study of this remarkable object can be found in:
“WeBo 1: A Young Barium Star Surrounded by a Ringlike Planetary Nebula”
by Howard E. Bond, Don L. Pollacco, and Ronald F. Webbink
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/344809/pdf

This image is dedicated to my newborn son.

For me, the Heart Nebula symbolizes new beginnings, protection, and wonder — a place where light is born from darkness.

It also marks my first attempt at pseudo-narrowband processing in PixInsight using OSC data. I invested a great deal of time refining the data and shaping the final image to do justice to what this image represents to me.

(I also did two more versions. - Let me know which one YOU like the most. 🙂)

Special thanks to Tony (a.k.a. “Tamam”) here on Astrobin for his detailed guidance tips on FORAXX processing, which was new territory for me as an OSC user.

Here is a Link to his amazing version of IC 1805, imaged using his C11:
https://app.astrobin.com/u/Taman?i=9r4vbf

Clear skies
Michael