The California Nebula (NGC 1499) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California on long exposure photographs. It is almost 2.5° long on the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to observe visually.
It lies at a distance of about 1 000 light years from Earth. Its fluorescence is due to excitation of the Hβ line in the nebula by the nearby prodigiously energetic O7 star, Xi Persei also known as Menkib seen to the right of the nebula.
NGC 1499 California Nebula
The California Nebula (NGC 1499) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California on long exposure photographs. It is almost 2.5° long on the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to observe visually. It can be observed with a Hβ filter (isolates the Hβ line at 486 nm) in a rich-field telescope under dark skies. It lies at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth. Its fluorescence is due to excitation of the Hβ line in the nebula by the nearby prodigiously energetic O7 star, xi Persei (also known as Menkib, seen at center below it in the inset at right.
An early attempt to photograph the nebula with the CPC 925 reflector telescope and the Nikon D800 DSLR camera in Åva, February 2016. 10 exposures at 210 s each at ISO 800.
NGC 1499 California Nebula
The California Nebula (NGC 1499) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California on long exposure photographs. It is almost 2.5° long on the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to observe visually.
It lies at a distance of about 1 000 light years from Earth. Its fluorescence is due to excitation of the Hβ line in the nebula by the nearby prodigiously energetic O7 star, Xi Persei also known as Menkib seen to the right of the nebula.
Photographed with the APO107 mm refractor telescope and Nikon D800 DSLR camera in Stuvsta, December 2020. Mosaic of two pictures, 25*3 min and 38*3 min, at ISO800 with IDAS LPS D2 light pollution filter. Integrated in Pixinsight an corrected with flats.
NGC 1499 California Nebula
Photographed with the APO 94mm refractor telescope and the ASI 2600MC color camera in Stuvsta, December 2021. Exposure was 50*3 min with IDAS NB1 narrowband filter and post processing in Pixinsight.