The Heart & Soul Nebulae
IC 1805 & IC 1848 • Emission nebulae • Cassiopeia • 7500 light-years from Earth
🔭
Svbony SV535
📷
ZWO 2600MC Pro
🌃
Bortle 8
⏱️
11 hours 9 minutes
🗓️
March 2026
Overview
A wide-field view of one of the richest star-forming regions in the northern sky, captured from Bortle 8 city skies using narrowband techniques but with an OSC camera.
Background
The Heart and Soul Nebulae are popular targets for astrophotographers. They appear relatively large and are well-placed in the sky for observers in the northern hemisphere. They’re also relatively bright, which is definitely a bonus for urban astrophotographers having to battle light pollution!
This is my first full imaging project using my new Svbony SV535 telescope. It has a focal length of 105mm, which is extremely wide. In fact, the main image is a crop of about a quarter of the full picture! The Svbony SV535 is also fast at f/2.8, so I was able to collect data using three filters (Optolong L-Quad Enhance, Optolong L-Ultimate, Askar E2) to create an SHO image using an OSC camera in just two nights. This is very speedy considering my city centre location.
Uncropped Svbony SV535 image
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Explore the field
Objects in this field 72 objects
72 objects
No matching objects.
- Heart NebulaIC 1805
- Cluster + nebulaAlso catalogued as LBN 654 · Sh2-190 · Mel 15 · Cr 26 · LBN 655 · Ced 7
- Soul NebulaIC 1848
- Cluster + nebulaAlso catalogued as LBN 667 · Sh2-199 · Cr 32 · LBN 672 · Cr 33 · Cr 34 · Ced 9a
- Fish Head NebulaIC 1795
- HII regionAlso catalogued as LBN 645 · Ced 6a
- NGC 896
- Nebula
- NGC 1027
- Open clusterAlso catalogued as IC 1824
- Maffei 2Sh2-197
- Galaxy
- Maffei 1Sh2-191
- GalaxyAlso catalogued as LBN 659
- LBN 648
- HII region
- SNR G132.7+01.3
- Supernova remnantAlso catalogued as HB 3
- Stock 7
- Open cluster
- LBN 647
- HII region
- Ced 6c
- Nebula
- Mamajek 13
- Open cluster
- Sh2-198
- HII regionAlso catalogued as LBN 669
- Teutsch 55
- Open cluster
- Tombaugh 4
- Open cluster
- Sh2-200
- Planetary nebulaAlso catalogued as LBN 674 · PN G138.1+04.1 · PK 138+04.1
- Markarian 6
- Open cluster
- Sh2-201
- HII region
- Be 65
- Open cluster
- King 4
- Open cluster
- LDN 1373
- Dark nebula
- IC 1871
- HII regionAlso catalogued as Ced 11
- Sh2-196
- HII regionAlso catalogued as LBN 664
- Be 66
- Open cluster
- Czernik 13
- Open cluster
- Ced 9c
- Reflection nebula
- IRAS 02232+6138
- Open cluster
- Czernik 9
- Open cluster
- Sh2-195
- HII regionAlso catalogued as LBN 665
- Czernik 11
- Open cluster
- Czernik 10
- Open cluster
- Sh2-193
- HII regionAlso catalogued as LBN 660
- Sh2-194
- HII region
- SAI 17
- Open cluster
- LBN 658
- HII region
- LBN 656
- HII region
- LBN 650
- HII region
- LDN 1366
- Dark nebula
- Sh2-192
- HII regionAlso catalogued as LBN 661
- LDN 1371
- Dark nebula
- IPHASX J030421.3+621802
- Planetary nebulaAlso catalogued as PN G137.7+03.3
- LDN 1365
- Dark nebula
- WeBo 1
- Planetary nebulaAlso catalogued as PN G135.6+01.0
- LDN 1356
- Dark nebula
- IPHASX J022045.0+631134
- Planetary nebulaAlso catalogued as PN G132.8+02.0
- LDN 1359
- Dark nebula
- IC 289
- Planetary nebulaAlso catalogued as PK 138+02.1 · PN G138.8+02.8
- LBN 673
- HII region
- LDN 1370
- Dark nebula
- LBN 657
- HII region
- LDN 1375
- Dark nebula
- LBN 642
- HII region
- LBN 670
- HII region
- LDN 1372
- Dark nebula
- LBN 646
- HII region
- IPHASX J025658.2+585547
- Planetary nebulaAlso catalogued as PN G138.5-00.0
- LDN 1376
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1354
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1367
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1364
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1369
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1360
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1361
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1363
- Dark nebula
- IC 1831
- NebulaAlso catalogued as Ced 8
- LDN 1368
- Dark nebula
- LDN 1362
- Dark nebula
- LBN 675
- HII region
- LBN 649
- HII region
- LBN 662
- HII region
- LBN 663
- Reflection nebula
About the labels and credits
Positions and outlines are calculated from a plate solution of this photograph. Outlines are catalogue guides and may not follow every visible filament. Additional catalogue objects may be faint or indistinct in this exposure.
Plate solving and annotation data: SkySolver, by Dominik Sito. Stars: Gaia DR3 and Hipparcos (ESA). Deep-sky data: OpenNGC © Mattia Verga (CC BY-SA 4.0), SIMBAD and VizieR (CDS). Names: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and IAU WGSN. Catalogue overlay adaptations, including styling and selected display names, are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph © Lee Pullen.
Close-ups
The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) 
The Soul Nebula (IC 1848) 
The Bear Claw Nebula (Sh2-200) 
The Double Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884)
Science
This region is part of a vast star-forming complex within the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way. The Heart and Soul Nebulae, along with the Double Cluster, all originated from the same giant molecular cloud, making this field a rare combination of active star formation and young stellar populations in a single frame.
The Heart Nebula (IC 1805)
This is a sprawling emission nebula. Its glow is mostly caused by a central cluster of young stars, only a few million years old. They’re emitting ultraviolet radiation, which is ionising the surrounding gas.
The Soul Nebula (IC 1848)
This is part of the same stellar complex as its neighbour, the Heart Nebula. Pockets of denser gas are collapsing in on themselves, triggering new stars to form.
The Bear Claw Nebula (Sh2-200)
A very different kind of object to the Heart and Soul Nebulae, the Bear Claw is actually a planetary nebula; the remains of a low-mass star that’s reaching the end of its life. The star’s outer layers are drifting off into space, creating the bubble that I managed to photograph. Its distinctive blue-green colour comes from doubly ionised oxygen, making it stand out against the hydrogen-rich emission of the Heart and Soul Nebulae.
The Double Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884)
This pair of clusters contains hundreds of stars, and probably all formed together from the same nebula around 14 million years ago.
Askar 130PHQ images
Here are images of objects contained within my Svbony SV535 image. These were all imaged using my Askar 130PHQ, which has a much longer focal length of 1000mm. Click on each image to visit that target’s page.
Imaging details
- Total exposure
- 11 hours 9 minutes
- Dates captured
- 17 – 19 March 2026
- Location and sky
- Bristol, UK (Bortle 8)
Equipment and software
- Telescope
- Svbony SV535 105mm f/2.8 Astrograph
- Camera
- ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro
- Mount
- StellarDrive X 6R PRO
- Guiding
- Svbony SV165 + ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
- Control
- ASIAIR Mini
- Software
- PixInsight, Lightroom
- Image by
- Lee Pullen
Exposure by filter
Optolong L-Quad Enhance
- Channels
- RGB
- Subframes
- 60 × 2 minutes
- Integration
- 2 hours
View subframe and stack
Single subframe and integrated stack, both with a simple stretch applied.
Optolong L-Ultimate
- Channels
- Hα / OIII
- Subframes
- 110 × 3 minutes
- Integration
- 5.5 hours
View subframe and stack
Single subframe and integrated stack, both with a simple stretch applied.
Askar Colour Magic E2
- Channels
- SII / OIII
- Subframes
- 73 × 3 minutes
- Integration
- 3.65 hours
View subframe and stack
Single subframe and integrated stack, both with a simple stretch applied.
Kit list
This is the equipment I used to capture the image.
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Telescope: Svbony SV535
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Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC Pro
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Mount: StellarDrive X 6R PRO
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Buy EQ6-R PRO from Astroshop.eu
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Rebuilt into a StellarDrive X 6R PRO by DarkFrame Optics.
Guidescope: Svbony SV165 Guidescope
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Guidecam: ZWO ASI 120MM Mini
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Buy from High Point Scientific
Control: ASIAIR Mini
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Buy from High Point Scientific
Filter: Optolong L-Quad Enhance
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Buy from High Point Scientific
Filter: Optolong L-Ultimate
Read my review
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Buy from High Point Scientific
Filter: Askar E2
Read my review
Buy from High Point Scientific
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