California Nebula NGC 1499 in Perseus

CLICK HERE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION - (3474 x 2314)

CLICK HERE FOR MEDIUM RESOLUTION - (2000 x 1332)

Scope: Megrez II at f/5.4; Location: Blair Valley, Anza Borrego Desert, CA;  29 November, 2008; Camera: Canon XT 350D (Baader ACF modified)

Exposure: 8 x 10 min Ha (13nmAstronomik EOS clip), 10 x 6 min (no filters) all ISO 1600, 5 Darks each, no Flats 

Processing: Images were captured with DSLR Focus  and saved as RAW file format. Images were decoded and dark corrected in IRIS. Images were aligned and stacked in IRIS with Sigma Median.  Dark point equalization and rough color balance  were done in IRIS. Color saturation, and gamma adjustments also done in Iris. Image was saved as Tiff. In Photoshop, the unfiltered exposure was blended with the red channel of the H-Alpha exposure. The blend was lighten. The H-Alpha exposure was also blended into the green and blue channels  at lower lighten percentage. Final stretching and touch up was done in PhotoShop.  Final Image size is approximately 3474 x 2314.

North is up in this image. NGC 1499 is an emission object in Perseus. It is also known as the California Nebula because of its general shape. The bright star in the lower right is Xi-Persei (common name Menkib). This star is the suspected  illumination / energy source for the nebula. NGC 1499 is approximately 1,000 light years distant from Earth. Horizontal FOV is 165'

Object Center is approximately - Equatorial 2000: RA: 04h 01m 55s Dec: +36°20'41"

Back to DSLR Images

All images and content remain the property of Jim Thommes - copyright 2003 - 2012

Current Web Total Hits -