IC 1805 – widely known as the Heart Nebula – is a vast emission nebula and star-forming H II region in the constellation Cassiopeia. What we see as a red, glowing cloud is hydrogen gas ionised by intense ultraviolet radiation from a young cluster of hot, massive stars (the open cluster Melotte 15) embedded near its centre. IC 1805 is part of the broader W3/W4 star-forming complex in the Perseus Arm, a region where stellar birth, feedback, and the reshaping of the interstellar medium happen on truly dramatic scales.

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