Mel15 Final 5

Melotte-15, Heart of the Heart

Melotte-15 is the star cluster at the heart of the Heart Nebula. It is an OB association of very young hot blue supergiant stars that is only 1.5 million years old. Fierce stellar winds from this cluster have blown the enormous bubble within the parent HII nebula that is the heart nebula. The winds have also sculpted the dust clouds within which other stars are forming into interesting columns and shapes, analogous to the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula