NGC1499 The California Nebula.
Discovered in 1889 The California Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation of Perseus, currently visible high in the winter night sky. So named because of its shape, reminiscent of the outline of the US State of California on a map.
The nebula itself stretches over 100 light years with my image showing about 70% of the total area. The Nebula is formed of gases that are ionized and made fluorescent by high-energy ultraviolet photons emitted from a young, hot, blue star.. The massive star in question, Menkib (Xi Persei), located top left in my image is one of the hottest stars visible to the unaided eye. It shines at magnitude 4.04 from a distance of about 1,200 light years. Menkib is a blue giant star with a mass 26 – 36 times that of the Sun and has expanded to 14 times the size. The star outshines our own by a colossal 263,000 (two hundred and sixty-three thousand) times. It also rotates exceptionally fast, with a projected rotational velocity of 220 km/s. The star’s estimated age is only 7 million years. Having evolved quickly due to its high mass, it will likely meet its fiery end as a supernova in the next million years.
The Nebula is huge several times the size of a full moon but nearly impossible to see visually but this long exposure imaged over several nights captures exquisite details from my backyard observatory.
