page_title: California Nebula
hierarchical_section_title: California Nebula
caption_attribution_description: Gas nebula NGC 1499 or also called California nebula after its shape that is formed like California, photographed at La Palma, Roque de los Muchachos (Degollada de los Franceses). Photo taken the following equipement: Camera/Telecope: Pentax SDHF 500 6.7/500 on GP/DX, tracing ST4 at 600mm (Sonnar 4/300 with 2x tele converter) Exposure: 45 min Film: Kodak E200 35mm (Push to 600 ASA) Scanner: Scan service Processing: Removed vignetting, colour and contrast correction. additional remark: faintest object visible at 6.5 mag Italiano: Sulla sinistra NGC 1499, la Nebulosa California. Fotografia di Oliver Stein.
context_page_description: The California Nebula 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 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.
  The California Nebula was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884.
  By coincidence, the California Nebula transits in the zenith in central California as the latitude matches the declination of the object.
context_section_description: 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).
  The California Nebula was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884.
  By coincidence, the California Nebula transits in the zenith in central California as the latitude matches the declination of the object.
caption: The California Nebula, as taken with an amateur telescope
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