Drifting through Space - California Nebula

Finally done with the California Nebula (NGC 1499) after a month of waiting for clear weather.  I started acquiring Ha-data in late November but the weather turned for the worse in CT so it wasn't until mid-December that I was able to collect some color using my UHC-clip.

Like our own sun the California Nebula is drifting through the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.  By chance it happens to resemble California on the west coast of the United States.  It is about 1,500 ly from Earth in Perseus and approximately 100 ly long (source: APOD).  For reference, the closet star to our sun, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 ly away.  As any chemistry student knows, the red color is caused by excited electrons from ionized hydrogen falling from the 3rd energy level to the 2nd energy level - that transition releases red photons...

NGC 1499 - California Nebula-HaRGB
Location: Home Monroe, CT
Date: 11-28-17, 12-20-17
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i(a), Backyard EOS
Telescope: Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 600mm
f/7.5
Focal Reducer: Orion 0.8x Focal Reducer for Refractor Telescopes
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ
Filter: Astrodon UV/IR, Astronomik Ha Clip-filter, UHC-clip
Autoguiding: QHY-5L-II-M attached to an Agena 50mm Guide Scope with Helical Focuser
Exposure: 29 x 120s, 60 x 120s
ISO: 1600
Temp: 8 C, -2 C
Post Processing: Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop, Astronomy Tools, Lightroom.
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