This is a re-processing of an image originally captured in September of 2012.  That version was combined with a second frame to form the image of the Heart Nebula in natural color (see Heart Nebula).  While the earlier version is close to natural color (pretty much all red), this one uses false color to bring out more detail, separating the H-alpha, O-3, and S-2 regions. The Heart is an emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia and about 7,500 light years from Earth. It does look like a heart, sort of. I suspect that the neighboring Soul Nebula (also about 7,500 […]