The Heart and Soul Nebula

The “Heart and Soul Nebula” is a stunningly beautiful celestial object located in the constellation Cassiopeia, approximately 7,500 light years away from Earth. The heart nebula is so named because of its resemblance to a human heart, with its deep red hues (in natural colours) and intricate, swirling patterns. Both targets have a distinctive core surrounded by brightly illuminated hydrogen gases, the result of solar wind carving out the interior of interstellar gas clouds. Within this nebula, new stars are born, as the gas and dust collapse under their own gravity, forming dense knots and filaments.

The second image below shows the core of the Heart Nebula (Melotte 15), a breathtakingly beautiful cluster of young, hot stars and dark dust clouds. The stars within this cluster are incredibly young, with some estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old. Yet already they shine with a brilliance that puts our own sun to shame.

Interesting fact: The Heart Nebula is also called "the Running Dog Nebula", but I cannot figure out where the dog is.

(The original data was acquired from Telescope Live, which I processed using Pixinsight and Photoshop).