California Nebula (NGC 1499)
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 lies at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth. Its fluorescence is due to excitation of the Ha line in the nebula by the nearby prodigiously energetic O7 star, xi Persei (also known as Menkib, seen near the center of the image).
[description from wikipedia]
Details
Telescope:
Takahashi FSQ-106EDX III
Mount:
ASA DDM85
Camera:
Andor CG16M
Filters:
Astrodon Gen2
Exposure:
(HaL)RGB (580:480):180:180:180 min.
Location:
ROSA Remote Observatories Southern Alps
Author:
© Martin Rusterholz, Astrophotographer
Hello, my name is Martin Rusterholz. I’m a Swiss amateur astrophotographer living near Zurich, the biggest town in Switzerland. My interest in astronomy started when I was 16. At that time, I built my first Newtonian telescope and mount. I studied physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) which was the only study including at least some aspects of astronomy and astrophysics.
“Looking at the nights sky is an experience touching everybody deeply inside, something common to all human beings independent to the language spoken by the individuals”.
Deep-sky astrophotography is my passion. 