Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2018 November 8
NGC1499: The California Nebula
ImageCredit & Copyright: Bray Falls
Explanation:There's even a California in space. Drifting through the Orion Arm of thespiral Milky Way Galaxy, this cosmic cloud by chance echoes the outline ofCalifornia on the west coast of the United States. Our own Sun also lies withinthe Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,500 light-years from the CaliforniaNebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around 100light-years long. On the featured image, the most prominent glow of theCalifornia Nebula is the red light characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombiningwith long lost electrons, stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. Thestar most likely providing the energetic starlight that ionizes much of thenebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of thenebula. A regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula can bespotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the constellationof Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.
联系客服
