ASTRO:
     type=HII emission nebula
     const=Cassiopeia
     mag=6.5
     dist=6500 ly
     size=3.5 ly
IMAGE:
     location=Emerald Bay, Lake Palestine, TX
     BrtlCls=4
     exposure=DSLR OSC: 51x420s (6.0h), ISO3200
EQUIPMENT:
​     optics=ES102CF APO / Starizona "L" 0.65x rdcr, FL(eff.)=464mm, f(eff.)/4.55
     camera=Nikon D90 (mod)
     filter=Radian Triad QuadNB
     mount=Celestron AVX EQ
     guiding=Orion 60x240mm, ZWO ASi244MC
SOFTWARE:
     acquisition=APT, PHD2, Stellarium
     processing=PixInsight (RCAstro, Lumenzia, APF-R), Photoshop (RCAstro), LrC

The Soul Nebula, sometimes also called the Embryo Nebula, but also known by its official IAU catalog designations as IC 1848, as well as Sh2-199, LBN 667, and W5, is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia.  Several small open star clusters are embedded inside the nebula: CR 34, CR 632, and CR 634 (in the nebula's 'head' region) and IC 1848 (in the body). 

As nebulae go, the Soul takes-up a fairly small footprint in our sky, which belies its true dimensions.  It has a small-ish 'apparent size' due to its sizable distance of appx 6,500 light-years from Earth; but, the cloud of dust and emission gas is nearly 200 light-years long from top to bottom, making it one of the larger objects currently known.   Small emission nebula IC 1871 is present just right of the top of the head, and small emission nebulae LBN 670 and LBN 669 are just below the lower back area.

The entire object is more commonly called by the designation IC 1848.  It is the eastern neighbor of IC1805 (the Heart Nebula) and the two are often mentioned together as the "Heart & Soul".

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope program (or, WISE telescope, a space-bound instrument like Hubble) for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington DC.  Infrared detectors aboard WISE have been used to look deeply into the Soul's clouds of dust and gas.  The cluster of stars, IC 1848, is believed to have formed about a mere million years ago (not long by astronomical standards) from the material of the nebula.  Winds and very intense ultraviolet light from these young stars are excavating a cavity in the central area of the cloud.  Parts of the cloud that are more dense than their surroundings are being eroded more slowly, forming giant towers, or pillars of dust and gas, which all point toward the central star cluster.  Material at the interior edges of the cavity is also being compressed by those same winds and radiation which is triggering new star formation in those areas.  The pillars inside the Soul each stand about 10 light-years tall and have stars forming at their tips.  All of these features collectively form the classic open-bowl, "Christmas Ornament" configuration that makes for one of the most beautiful and sought-after deep sky objects by amateur astrophotographers for imaging in our northern nighttime skies.  

A note about astronomical names:  Many objects in the sky have common names that astronomers will use to reference them.  However, these common names are not recognized by the IAU, and are not included in their official catalog designations.  Many, many more objects in the sky do not have common names at all, and only their official IAU astronomical catalogue identifiers are used.  One of today's most prominent astronomical catalogues is the New General Catalogue (NGC) of nebulae, galaxies and clusters of stars.  Intended to be the 'single-source' catalogue of 'everything astronomical', it was first published in the 1880s, and has been added-to and grown immensely since that time.  So an object with a name like NGC 7380 means that it is the 7,380th entry in the NGC.  Two additional catalogues were published as addendums to the NGC called the Index Catalogues (IC) between 1896 and 1905.  Their purpose is to provide a listing of NGC objects where they can be 'summarized', or naturally grouped together into recognizable groupings.  As with most IC listings, the designation of IC 1848 is taken from a single centrally located object within a larger complex.  For the Soul, that means it is the 1,848th entry in the Index Catalogues of the NGC, and contains several individually recognized objects under the NGC.  There are many catalogues of astronomical objects, each of which serves its own purpose for identifying objects, often determined to be similar by their originators' scientific observations and study.  Objects can be listed in more than one catalogue.  For example, Dutch astronomer Gart Westerhout made a catalogue of radio sources in the sky.  Entry number five in his catalogue, W5, corresponds to IC 1848, the Soul Nebula.

211129 - IC1848 "Soul" nebula