The California Nebula is an emission nebula and derives its name from its characteristic shape on long exposure photographs.  This nebula is 2,000 light years distant and is located in the constellation of Perseus.  Visually, it is very hard to observe even in large telescopes because its dim light is spread over an area four times the size of the moon.

IMAGE DETAILS:

• Date & Location:  November 21, 2009 - Bernville, PA

• Weather:  Calm wind, 35F.

• Sky Conditions:  Clear with good transparency. 

• Optics:  TeleVue TV60is Refractor (360mm -f/6) with field flattener.

• Filter:  Hutech IDAS-LPS (Light Pollution Suppression)

• Mount:  Losmandy G-11 equatorial with Gemini V4

• Guiding:  Orion Solitaire w/TeleVue NP101is

• Camera:  Canon T1i (500D) Hap Griffin Modified - Baader UV/IR

• Exposure:  70 min (8 x 8 min, 1 x 6 min) @ ISO 800, RAW

• Calibration Frames:  In camera dark frame subtraction

• Processing:  Photoshop CS4, Noise Ninja, NIK 

• Comments:  This image was captured in two separate photo sessions on the nights of November 21 & 22, 2009.