APOD 1.4

The subject of today's picture might be better suited for Valentines Day, but here it is now: The Heart Nebula. The picture from NASA (below) shows a zoomed in view of the Nebula, whose label is IC 1805, where false color imaging has rendered hydrogen in green, sulfur in red, and oxygen in blue. 

False Color Imaging shows the different gas composition.

Within this region, there are currently stars forming, and have been for the past 1.5 million years, from all the gases. The notable shape that the gases take influenced by the 'solar winds' and other emission released by the forming gases. The Nebula spans approximately 40 light-years in width. 

The Heart Nebula (right) and the Soul Nebula (left).

The Heart Nebula has a neighbor, as seen above, name the Soul Nebula. Now, it is apparent why the Heart Nebula is called so, because it has a shape similar to one. It is also referred to as the 'Running Dog' nebula, because it takes the shape of a dog running right across the sky.