241105 - Sh2-220 "California" nebula
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click image to enlarge
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ASTRO:
type=Emission Nebula mag=6.0 const=Perseus dist=1000 ly size=44 ly IMAGE: location=Emerald Bay, TX BrtlCls=4 moon=18% WxCr exposure=CMOS OSC; 77x300s (6.4h), G100 EQUIPMENT: camera=ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro optics=ES102 w Starizona "L" 0.65x rdcr, FL(eff.)=464mm; f/4.55 filter=Optolong L-eXtreme Duo NB mount=Celestron AVX guiding=Orion 60/240mm, ASI224MC SOFTWARE: acquisition=Stellarium, APT, PHD2 processing=PixInsight (RCAstro) (SetiAstro), Photoshop (Lumenzia) (APF-R), LrC |
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Could Queen Calafia's mythical Island of California exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance (and when turned up-right) the outline of this molecular space cloud mimics the outline of the state of California, USA. Our Sun has its home within the Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years from the California Nebula, also located in that same galactic region. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around 100 light-years long. The red glow of the California Nebula is the light characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons, stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. The star providing the most energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebula's gas is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei (more commonly named "Menkib") shown here just above the nebula (with an artificial starburst added). A regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula can be spotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the constellation of Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.
The California Nebula is almost 2.5° long in the sky, and because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to see visually. It can be observed with a Hα filter (isolates the Hα spectral line at wavelength 656 nm) or Hβ filter (isolates the Hβ line at 486 nm) under dark skies (Bortle class 1 or 2).
By coincidence, the California Nebula transits the zenith in central California as the latitude matches the declination of the object.
The California Nebula is almost 2.5° long in the sky, and because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to see visually. It can be observed with a Hα filter (isolates the Hα spectral line at wavelength 656 nm) or Hβ filter (isolates the Hβ line at 486 nm) under dark skies (Bortle class 1 or 2).
By coincidence, the California Nebula transits the zenith in central California as the latitude matches the declination of the object.