California Nebula
Encyclopedia
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 H-Beta filter (isolates the H-Beta 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
.
The California Nebula was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884.
New General Catalogue
The New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars is a well-known catalogue of deep sky objects in astronomy. It contains 7,840 objects, known as the NGC objects...
1499) is an emission nebula
Nebula
A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
located in the constellation Perseus
Perseus (constellation)
Perseus is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the Greek hero Perseus. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union...
. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
State of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on long exposure photographs. It is almost 2.5° long on the sky and, because of its very low surface brightness
Surface brightness
The overall brightness of an extended astronomical object such as a galaxy, star cluster, or nebula, can be measured by its total magnitude, integrated magnitude or integrated visual magnitude; a related concept is surface brightness, which specifies the brightness of a standard-sized piece of an...
, it is extremely difficult to observe visually. It can be observed with a H-Beta filter (isolates the H-Beta line at 486 nm) in a rich-field telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
under dark skies. It lies at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The California Nebula was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884.
External links
- NGC 1499 at SEDS
- Menkhib and the California Nebula by the Wide-field Infrared Survey ExplorerWide-field Infrared Survey ExplorerWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope launched on December 14, 2009, and decommissioned/hibernated on February 17, 2011 when its transmitter was turned off...
(WISE)