Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                       NGC 1499: The California Nebula
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Sara Wager

   Explanation: Drifting through the Orion Arm of the spiral Milky Way
   Galaxy, [5]this cosmic cloud by chance echoes the outline of California
   on the west coast of the United States. Our own [6]Sun also lies within
   the Milky Way's [7]Orion Arm, only about 1,500 light-years from the
   [8]California Nebula. Also known as [9]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 [10]long lost electrons. The electrons have been
   stripped away, ionized by energetic starlight. Most likely providing
   the [11]energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebular gas is the
   bright, hot, bluish star [12]Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula.
   A popular target for astrophotographers, this deep [13]California
   Nebula image is a 6 panel telecopic mosaic and covers a [14]wide field
   of view. The nebula lies toward the constellation [15]Perseus, not far
   from the [16]Pleiades.

                    Tomorrow's picture: millions of stars
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    Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([31]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [32]Specific rights apply.
              [33]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1908/NGC1499_mosaic.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://www.swagastro.com/
   5. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/nebulae/ngc1499.html
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140506.html
   7. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/5000lys.html
   8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Nebula
   9. http://spider.seds.org/spider/Misc/n1499.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/lament.html
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves
  12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Persei
  13. https://www.swagastro.com/ngc1499.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090411.html
  15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation)
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131122.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190822.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  26. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190823
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190824.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/