by Bob Franke
Taken on 12/27/2008 to 1/3/2009 in Chino Valley, AZ
Takahashi FSQ-106ED @ f/5.0 w/ an SBIG STL-11000 camera using Astrodon 6nm filters
Exposure Details:
SII 270 min. (9 x 30 min. bin 1x1)
Ha 300 min. (10 x 30 min. bin 1x1)
OIII 270 min. (9 x 30 min. bin 1x1)
RGB 150 min. (5 x 10 min. Each... bin 1x1)
SII,Ha & OIII are mapped to RGB respectivly with an RGB overlay added for the star colors.
The California Nebula (NGC 1499) is located in the constellation Perseus at a distance of about 1,000 light years from Earth. It is so named because it appears to resemble the outline of the US State of California. NGC 1499 is a classic emission nebula, around 100 light-years long. In true color it glows with the red light characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons, stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. Because of its very low surface brightness, it is extremely difficult to observe visually and was discovered by E. E. Barnard in 1884.
The colors in this image use the Hubble palette, allowing the hydrogen (green), sulfur (red) and oxygen (blue) areas to be easily identified.