One of the landmark deep sky objects of the northern skies: the Heart (IC1805 including Melotte15) and Fish (IC1795 & NGC896) nebulae.

Part of constellation Cassiopeia, the Heart & Fish is one of the brightest HII emission regions. The central part of the nebula is known as Melotte 15, an open cluster of stars and ionized gas that are clearly recognizable by the majestic gas pillars.

The image is a composition of a two-panels mosaic in narrowband, for a total integration time of 24 hours (4hrs Ha, Oiii, Sii each panel) and combined in SHO palette. I chose to emphasize a red hue shift on the outer gas regions instead of the classic gold-orange.

The small and very peculiar WeBo 1 is also visible: a young barium star surrounded by a ring-like planetary nebula

High resolution here

Melotte 15
Fish Nebula
WeBo1 planetary nebula

Processing details

Pixinsight

  • Calibration, weighting, alignment, integration (drizzle integration vark 1.5), crop
  • Integer downsample x2
  • ImageSolver, MosaicByCoordinates, MergeMosaic

L (Ha)

  • EzDecon
  • EzDenoise
  • HT stretch
  • LHE
  • EzStarReduction

SHO

  • ChannelCombination
  • HT stretch
  • EzStarReduction
  • LRGB combination with L
  • Curves and masks for color adjustments
  • EnhanceDarkStructures script

Photoshop

  • Enhanced saturation and contrast
  • Non linear noise reduction protecting stars
  • various curves, contrast and color adjustments with masks

Caprile Observatory

Caprile Astronomical Observatory, Astrophotography, located in Tuscany (Italy) countryside. A photographic journey across the marvels of the universe | Galaxy | Nebulae | Deep Sky Objects