NGC 1499 - California Nebula (2025)

This is my latest version of NGC 1499, also known as the California Nebula. NGC 1499 is an emission nebula resembling California is approximately 100 light-years long and located only about 1,000 light-years away in the constellation of Perseus. Emission nebulae get their energetic glow from electrons recombining with atoms after they were stripped away by ionizing radiation from nearby stars (hydrogen is most common). The responsible star for this nebula is believed to be Xi Persei (Menkib), the hot blue star on the right central side of the nebula. Halfway up the nebula on the left edge there are a few dark nebulae which show some well defined detail - my favorite is LDN 1464, the most interior.


My previous images were from 2017 with the Orion ED80 scope & Canon T3i camera and in 2022 with the AstroTech AT115 scope & ZWO ASI1600MM camera. Since the previous images were with different setups, they highlighted different aspects of this iconic object. This latest version represents the widest field of view and shows the most detail. The IDAS NBZ dual band filter was used to collect Ha and OIII data and create a HOO image. Many color variations of this object are found on the web and no one is considered to be the correct blend unless a natural color image was produced. I did collect some RGB data but only for the stars. This was the color that came through after the blend and I did a few adjustments, however, when I went further there was a degradation in detail so went it.


High Resolution:
https://www.astrobin.com/c0om27/?nc=collection&nce=712

Dates: 11-26-24, 12-1, 12-2, 12-3, 12-8, 12-26

NGC 1499 - California Nebula (2025)
Dates: 1-15-25, 1-17, 1-20, 1-23, 1-27
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Telescope: Askar FRA300 Pro
Barlow: None
Focal Length: 300mm
F/5
Focal Reducer: None
Mount: ZWO AM3
Filter Adaptor: ZWO Filter Drawer
Filter: IDAS NBZ, Camera UV-IR
Focuser: ZWO EAF
Autoguiding: ASI120 Mini attached to a ZWO Mini guidescope
Exposure: UV-IR 61 x 90 (1h 31'), NBZ 111 x 300 (9h 15'), Total (10h 46')
Gain: 100
Offset 0
Temp: -20 C
Processing: Asiair app, PixInsight, Photoshop, BlurXT, NoiseXT, StarX, Bill's Color Masks, Bill's Star Reduction, Bill's Stretching, GraXpert

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