Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)  ·  Contains:  California nebula  ·  NGC 1499  ·  The star ξPer
NGC1499 The Central Portion of The  California Nebula, astrobillbinMontana
NGC1499 The Central Portion of The  California Nebula
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NGC1499 The Central Portion of The California Nebula

NGC1499 The Central Portion of The  California Nebula, astrobillbinMontana
NGC1499 The Central Portion of The  California Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

NGC1499 The Central Portion of The California Nebula

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Description

Here we see the central portion of the cosmic cloud known by its popular name, The California Nebula, due to the fact that it resembles the general shape of the State of California on the west coast of the United States. It is also designated as NGC1499 and is found in the Constellation Perseus, not far from M45, The Pleiades.

This classic emission nebula lies in the Orion arm of our own Milky Way Galaxy and is about 1,500 light years from the Earth. The nebula is about 100 light years long. The prominent red glow is due to hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons that have been stripped away by energetic starlight. The star Xi Persei, seen to the extreme left in this image and partly out of the field of view, is most likely providing the energy that is ionizing the gas in this nebula

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NGC1499 The Central Portion of The  California Nebula, astrobillbinMontana