NGC 1499：加州星云

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.

NGC 1499：加州星云
影像来源及版权: Sara Wager

说明：这片飘浮在旋涡状银河系猎户臂上的宇宙云碰巧与美国西海岸加利福尼亚州的外形相似。我们的太阳也位于银河系的猎户臂内，距离加州星云仅约1,500光年。这个亦称为NGC 1499的典型发射星云长度约为100光年。加州星云特有的红色辉光是氢原子与遗失已久且被高能星光剥离的电子重新结合后发出的。而辐射高能星光电离了大部分星云气体的天体最可能是位于星云右侧、明亮炽热的蓝色恒星英仙座ξ。加州星云是天体摄影师经常观测的一个目标，这幅由六张望远镜照片拼接而成的深空影像覆盖了一片广阔的视野。该星云位于英仙座方向，距离昴宿星团不远。