E.E. Barnard discovered IC 1805 photographically with the discovery communicated directly to Dreyer. The NGC position is off by 1 tmin in RA (same as IC 1824 = NGC 1027). Barnard gave a corrected position in his Atlas of the Milky Way.

The Heart (IC 1805) and Soul (IC 1848) nebulae are part of the Cas OB6 Association, a sprawling complex of gas, dust and massive O- and B-class stars at a distance ~7500 light years in the Perseus Arm.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/27/92): about 125 stars forming a bright, very large 40' field at 100x. In the center is an oval ring consisting of about 30 stars within a 4'-5' diameter including a bright 8th magnitude multiple star (Stein 368). The brighter stars in the outer region form a rough incomplete circular outline. Using 100x with an OIII filter, the associated nebulosity (LBN 654) is clearly entwined within a large portion of the cluster.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb