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Title: Astronomy Picture of the Day
Source:
NASA
URL Source: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Published: Mar 10, 2005
Author: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (U
Post Date: 2005-03-10 08:08:44 by 2Trievers
Keywords: Astronomy, Picture
Views: 11
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. 2005 March 10 NGC 1499: California Nebula Caltech, Palomar Observatory, Digitized Sky Survey 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. It glows with the red light characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons, stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. In this case, the star most likely providing the energetic starlight is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei, just right of the nebula and above picture center. Fittingly, this composite picture was made with images from a telescope in California - the 48-inch (1.2-meter) Samuel Oschin Telescope - taken as a part of the second National Geographic Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. Astronomy Picture of the Day
Credit:
Courtesy Scott Kardel
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