The Heart and Soul are full of stars ⁣✨:

⁣Yes, seriously – the Heart (right) and Soul (left) nebulae pictured here are colossal star-making factories, stretching to almost 580 light-years across. The stars inside these nebulae are less than a few million years old – which makes them quite young by comparison to others, like our 5 billion-year-old Sun. These youngster stars are responsible for the heart and soul’s bubble shapes, as the radiation and winds from the stars blow dust outward.⁣

⁣These two nebulae are located 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. They are part of a star-forming complex in the Perseus spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy.⁣

⁣This image is an infrared mosaic from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope. It covers a massive area of sky that is 10 times as wide and 8 times as tall as the full moon.⁣

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Image Description:⁣

The Heart and Soul nebulae are seen in this mosaic. The nebula to the right is the Heart, designated IC 1805 and named after its shape resembling a human heart. To the left is the Soul nebula. Both nebulae appear as green bubbles of gas lined by wispy, white clouds. Inside each are splotches of fiery red gas. Vibrant blue stars litter the entirety of the scene.⁣

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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA⁣

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#NASA #Astronomy #WISE #Space #Nebula #HeartAndSoul #MilkyWay

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12 December 2023