NGC 1499 (Sh2-220, California Nebula)

NGC 1499 (Sh2-220, California Nebula) in Perseus

© Velimir Popov & Emil Ivanov 2020

Size: 1800 px

NGC 1499 (Sh2-220, or California Nebula) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. Discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884, 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. Its distance from Earth is estimated to be about 1,000 light years. Its fluorescence is due to excitation of the Hβ line in the nebula by the nearby energetic O7 star, ξ Persei, also known as Menkib (see mouseover)

Image details:

Annotation

Center of field RA	04:01:18 (h:m:s)
Center of field DE	+36:19:16 (deg:m:s)
Size	6.37 x 4.61 (deg)
Pixel scale:	12.7 (arcsec/pixel)
Orientation:	Up is 273 degrees E of N

Charts and image details obtained from Astrometry.net

Optic(s):	Canon 300 mm F/2.8 lenses
Mount:	ASA DDM85 Standard
Camera:	SBIG STL 11000 M
Filters:	Luminance, Red, Green, Blue, Astronomik filters
Dates/Times:	Jul.2011
Location:	IRIDA Observatory, BG, longitude: E 24 44' 18", latitude: N 41 41' 42"
Exp. Details:	L:12x10min;R:6x10 min, G:6x10 min, B:6x10 min; Ha:8x15minBin 1 Total exp.time: 420min (7:00 hrs)
More details:	Dark and flat frames reduction
Processing:	PixInsight / PS

e-mail: info@irida-observatory.org