The Heart Nebula with a DSLR & a Camera Lens (IC 1805)

The Heart Nebula — IC 1805, in Cassiopeia — is a vast cloud of glowing hydrogen about 7,500 light-years away, shaped (with a little imagination) like a heart. At its centre sits the young star cluster Melotte 15, whose fierce radiation makes the whole thing glow.

No telescope for this one — just a plain DSLR and a camera lens on a small tracking mount in the backyard. At 300 mm the field is wide enough that the neighbouring Soul Nebula (IC 1848) drifts into the edge of the frame too.

Acquisition

• Camera: Nikon D750 (DSLR)
• Lens: Nikkor AF-S 55–300 mm VR @ 300 mm, f/5.6
• Mount: small tracking mount on a tripod, autoguided
• Subs: 70 × 180 s @ ISO 3200 — 3.5 hours, one night (17 Nov 2025)
• Calibration: 20 darks + 20 bias (no flats), no filter
• Processing: Siril — calibrate, stack, background extraction, colour calibration, stretch, star separation + recombine

Proof you don’t need big glass to reach a target like this: an unmodified DSLR and a kit-grade zoom, three and a half hours from the backyard.

The 60-second version

⚠️ The narration voice and the on-screen presenter (“Tara”) are AI-generated. The astrophotography is entirely my own.

Clear skies. 🌌