Object: The California Nebula (NGC-1499) and Comet 17P/Holmes
Date: 3/7/08
Location: ASLC DSO Site near Upham, NM
Camera: Modified Canon 350XT and Canon 100mm f2 lens stopped to f3.2
Mount/Guiding: G11, SBIG 10XE internal guide chip through a TV85 refractor
Exposure: 8 x 5min, ISO 800, Temp 28 degrees F
Processing: RAW conversion. registration and stacking in ImagesPlus. Levels, curves, GradientXterminator, and unsharp masking in PS.
Comments: This is a lovely alignment of astronomical objects with similar magnitudes but they lie at vastly different distances from Earth.  Comet Holmes orbits between Mars and Jupiter at a distance of roughly 1.6 AU or ~12 light-minutes and in Nov 2007 was the largest object in the solar system.  The California Nebula (named for its distinctive shape) is located some 1500 light-years away and actually spans over 100 light-years in the long axis.   Epsilon Persei, the bright blue star to the right, at a distance of ~ 540 light-years, is actually a multiple star system with two main components.  It's proper name is Adid Australis, meaning "Southern One of the Upper Arm" [of the Pleiades], in Arabic.

© Dave Dockery 2008