It has a low surface brightness and is somewhat difficult to observe visually, but is an impressive object for astronomical long exposures. Instead, this nebula is a great target for astrophotographers. The star that most likely provides the high-energy starlight that ionises much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. The star that most likely provides the high-energy starlight that ionises much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula.
Because of its low surface brightness, it is not much easier to spot in telescopes during visual observations. ngc 1499 is classified as an emission nebula excited to fluoresce by Xi Persei, a very energetic O7-class star.
How old is the California Nebula?
It is a coincidence that the California Nebula is directly over the zenith in central California, where the latitude matches the object’s declination (36° 25′ 18.0″). If you are a beginner looking to photograph the California Nebula for the first time, I recommend an apochromatic wide-angle refractor telescope in the 400-500 mm range. Although ngc 1499 got its name because it looks like California in photographs, don’t expect to see the iconic shape of the state when you observe it. The California Nebula is 2.5° long (60 light years across) and about 1,500 light years from Earth.
Why is the California Nebula red?
Isolating the California Nebula to the Ha wavelength brings out the fine details of this nebula by filtering out light pollution and concentrating the signal captured by the camera sensor. The most striking features of this nebula are its striking resemblance to the shape of the US state of California and its red colour, which is due to its hydrogen composition. It would take a spaceship 100 years to travel from one side to the other at the speed of light. A note on the calculations: When I say years, I mean only non-leap years (365 days).
How big is the California Nebula?
The California Nebula gets its name from the similarity of its shape to the state of California and was discovered by E. The California Nebula can be seen from Earth in the constellation Perseus, which happens to be the radiant of one of the largest annual meteor showers visible from Earth: the Perseid meteor shower. Given California’s contribution to space travel and astronomy over the years – from NASA’s Ames Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory to the rockets launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base and the many universities offering renowned astronomy and astrophysics programmes – it is perhaps only fitting that the Golden State has a nebula named after it. The California Nebula ngc 1499 is a favourite deep-sky target of American astrophotographers for obvious reasons and is located about 1,000 light-years away and stretches for about 100 light-years.
