Hover your mouse over each blue dot for the name of the object, or click on the dot for a detail page. This map was created using the all-sky hydrogen-alpha map produced by Douglas Finkbeiner from data collected by the WHAM, VTSS and SHASSA hydrogen-alpha surveys.
The Heart and Soul nebulae are the site of a major star formation region at a distance of about 2100 parsecs and the location of the radio sources W3, W4, and W5. This region is an extension of the Cassiopeia region mentioned in the commentary on Cepheus. W3 and W4 are located in the Heart nebula (Sh 2-190) and W5 is located in the Soul nebula (Sh 2-199). Also visible in this image is Sh 2-202, a large nebula at the same distance as the Cepheus nebulae (800 parsecs), three related nebula behnd the Heart nebula at 3200 parsecs (Sh 2-192, Sh 2-193 and Sh 2-194) and two nebula to the southeast (bottom left) at 3500 parsecs (Sh 2-203 and BFS 31).
Also on this image are Sh 2-191 and Sh 2-197 as well as Sh 2-195, which appears to be the same object as Sh 2-197. These are actually the galaxies Maffei 1 and 2.
The dust obscured area below the visible Heart and Soul region shows a faint circle of emission. This seems to be associated with the HI (neutral hydrogen) shell GSH 138-01-94. There is a dramatic image of this shell in radio and infrared frequencies here.