Deep-sky object
California Nebula
California Nebula is an emission nebula 1 300 light-years away, in Perseus, about 57 light-years across, seen as it was 1 300 years ago.
Shaped like the state of California, and by coincidence it passes straight overhead in central California, whose latitude matches its declination.
See it live
It is on the live 3D map, where it really is.
Key facts
- Type
- emission nebula
- Constellation
- Perseus
- Distance
- 1 300 light-years
- Size
- about 57.0 light-years across
- Brightness from Earth
- magnitude 6.0
- Catalogue
- NGC 1499
See it from here
Bright enough to see with your own eyes from a dark place.
How the map draws it
Drawn as a soft glow in the manner of its kind at its measured distance, as wide as it measures; the pattern in it is illustrative and its true shape is not drawn — the kind of thing, not this exact one.