Imaging telescopes or lenses: William Optics Redcat 51
Imaging cameras: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Mounts: Sky-Watcher EQM 35 Pro
Guiding telescopes or lenses: ZWO 30mm f/4 Mini Guide Scope
Guiding cameras: ZWO ASI 120 Mini Mono
Software: Pleiades AstroPhoto Pixinsight
Filters: Optolong L-eXtreme 2"
Accessory: ZWO EAF Electronic Auto Focuser · ZWO ASI Air Pro
Dates:Feb. 22, 2021
Frames:Optolong L-eXtreme 2": 19x600" (gain: 101.00) -10C
Integration: 3.2 hours
Darks: ~10
Flats: ~10
Bias: ~10
Avg. Moon age: 9.85 days
Avg. Moon phase: 75.10%
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 3.00
Astrometry.net job: 4251959
RA center: 4h 1' 9"
DEC center: +36° 46' 35"
Pixel scale: 1.571 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: -171.329 degrees
Field radius: 1.858 degrees
Resolution: 6016x6016
Locations: Backyard, Belen, NM, United States
Data source: Backyard
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 Hα filter (isolates the Hα line at 656 nm) or 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.
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