My Astrophotography – Melotte 15 (Mel 15)

Melotte 15 (Mel 15)

  • Melotte 15 is the young, powerful star cluster at the very centre of the Heart Nebula (IC 1805), about 7,500 light‑years away in Cassiopeia.

  • Object Name
    Mel 15

  • Object Type
    Open Cluster

  • Constellation
    Cassiopeia

  • Magnitude
    6.5

  • Distance
    7,500 light‑years

  • Annotated

oooo


Equipment

Telescope:

Mount:

Accessories:

Sky-Watcher Esprint 80ED Triplet

Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT

ZWO ASIair Plus / PixInsight

Camera:

Guiding:

Filter:

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro cooling

ZWO ASI1200MM

2″ Optolong L-eNhance

Bortle Scale: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (Bortle 6.6)


oooo
Integration

  • Date:
    Tuesday 10th October 20234
  • Moonlit:
    Waning Crescent 26 days old
    Magnitude: -12.4

    Moonlit: 14%
  • Total:
    180‘s x 20 subs = 1 hour

oooo


oooo
Constellation :- Cassiopeia (The Queen)

Object :-

oooo

Object :-

Designations :-

Type :-

Magnitude :

Distance :-

Constellation :-

Right Ascension :-

Declination :-

oooo

oooo

Mel 15

(IC 1805 – Heart Nebula)

Open Cluster

6.5

7,500 light years / 30 light years long

Cas (Cassiopeia / The Queen)

02h 33m 22s

+61° 26′ 36″

Enlarge on click the map.

(Click the map above for a large view.)

Abbreviation:  Cas (Cassiopeia)
English Name:  The Cassiopeia Queen
Genitive: Schedar, sometimes spelt Shedar or Shedir.
Hemisphere: Northern Hemisphere
Location: Between the constellations of Andromeda and Cephus.
Visible between latitudes:  +90 and -20 degrees
Best season: Autumn
Seen in three seasons: Summer, Autumn and Winter
Best seen in:  November
Seen between: Circumpolar (This constellation of Cassiopeia stays in the sky all the year.)
Right Ascension (RA): 01 hour
Declination (DEC): +60 degrees
Area (square degrees):  598 (25th)

oooo


oooo

Facts about Melotte 15 (Open Cluster)

  • Melotte 15 is a very young star cluster inside the Heart Nebula.
    o
  • Its huge, hot stars blow strong winds that shape the gas around them, making pillars and caves.
    o
  • It is about 7,500 light‑years away and only 1.5 million years old.

oooo


oooo
oooo
oooo

oooo

oooo

Comments are closed.