by APOD Robot » Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:05 am
NGC 1499: The California Nebula
Explanation: Could
Queen Calafia's mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes 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 known as
NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around 100
light-years long. On the
featured image, the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light characteristic of
hydrogen atoms recombining with
long lost electrons, stripped away (
ionized) by energetic starlight. The star most likely providing the
energetic starlight that
ionizes much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish
Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. 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.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210310.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_210310.jpg[/img] [size=150]NGC 1499: The California Nebula[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Could [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calafia]Queen Calafia[/url]'s mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes the outline of the state of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California]California[/url], USA. Our [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140506.html]Sun[/url] has its home within the Milky Way's [url=http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/5000lys.html]Orion Arm[/url], only about 1,000 light-years from the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Nebula]California Nebula[/url]. Also known as [url=http://spider.seds.org/spider/Misc/n1499.html]NGC 1499[/url], the classic emission nebula is around 100 [url=https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html]light-year[/url]s long. On the [url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9TQ73pOy4/]featured image[/url], the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light characteristic of [url=https://periodic.lanl.gov/1.shtml]hydrogen[/url] atoms recombining with [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/lament.html]long lost[/url] electrons, stripped away ([url=https://energyeducation.ca/wiki/images/3/3d/IONIZATION.png]ionized[/url]) by energetic starlight. The star most likely providing the [url=https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves]energetic starlight[/url] that [url=https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ion-balloons/en/]ionizes[/url] much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Persei]Xi Persei[/url] just to the right of the nebula. A regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090411.html]can be spotted[/url] with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the constellation of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_%28constellation%29]Perseus[/url], not far from the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131122.html]Pleiades[/url].
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