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NGC 1499 - The California Nebula in Perseus
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Copyright 2005 Hap Griffin
Known as NGC 1499,
the California Nebula is so named because of its loose resemblance to the shape
of the state. Radiation from the hot blue-white main sequence star Xi
Persei, shown at the lower right, causes this huge cloud of hydrogen to fluoresce.
This emission nebula covers a large patch of sky over two degrees long and is
sometimes faintly visible to the naked eye from very dark locations. It
lies at a distance of 1000 light years.
Date/Location:
December 27, 2005 Griffin/Hunter
Observatory Bethune, SC
Instrument: Canon 350XT Digital SLR (modified) through Orion ED80 w/ Meade
.63 Focal Reducer piggybacked on 10" Meade RCX-400
Focal Ratio: Approx. f4.5
Guiding: Auto through RCX-400 w/ SBIG ST-237
Conditions: Visually clear
Weather: 40 F
Exposure: 65 minutes @ ISO 800 (13 x 5 min exposures) calibrated with flat frame
and Master Dark frame (average combine of 9 darks)
Filters: Baader UV/IR Block
Processing: Focused and captured with DSLRFocus.
RAW to TIFF conversion, frame calibrations, alignment, Digital Development,
Adaptive Richardson_Lucy deconvolution, noise reduction, scaling and JPEG conversion with ImagesPlus.