Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                               2019 August 23

                       NGC 1499: The California Nebula
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Sara Wager

   Explanation: Drifting through the Orion Arm of the spiral Milky Way
   Galaxy, this cosmic cloud by chance echoes the outline of California on
   the west coast of the United States. Our own Sun also lies within the
   Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,500 light-years from the California
   Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around
   100 light-years long. The California Nebula shines with the telltale
   reddish glow characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long
   lost electrons. The electrons have been stripped away, ionized by
   energetic starlight. Most likely providing the energetic starlight that
   ionizes much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish star Xi
   Persei just to the right of the nebula. A popular target for
   astrophotographers, this deep California Nebula image is a 6 panel
   telecopic mosaic and covers a wide field of view. The nebula lies
   toward the constellation Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.

                    Tomorrow's picture: millions of stars
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