Into the midst of the Heart

The “Heart” nebula contains at its center an open cluster of young, hot stars 1.5 million years young and is given the name Mellot 15 (Just right of center in the image). Some of these stars are ~50 times the mass of our Sun. The young star cluster surrounds a mysterious spire like tower of gas and dust which looks like something you’d expect to see in a Harry Potter movie. The “Heart” nebula is some 7,500 light-years distant in the constellation Cassiopeia.