How to photograph the California Nebula (NGC 1499)
A long hydrogen cloud shaped like the state of California.
Photo byAroughroad(CC BY-SA 4.0)
When to shoot it from your location
About the California Nebula
The California Nebula is almost pure hydrogen-alpha, so it suits a modified camera or an Ha filter. At 135-300mm it frames well in winter skies.
Gear and framing
The California Nebula spans about 2.7° of sky. It frames best with:
- Telephoto (85-300mm lens)
- Small refractor (250-600mm)
You can see how other people have built their rigs on RigDesigner, including my Sony a6700 and 60mm refractor rig.
Filters
This target glows in hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III light. A dual-band filter, or separate narrowband filters with a mono camera, lets that light through and blocks most light pollution and moonlight. It is a good choice for city skies and for nights with the Moon up.
Tips
- It has very little oxygen-III signal, so a hydrogen-alpha filter alone does most of the work.
Processing
Stack your light frames with darks and flats, then remove the background gradient before stretching. AstroBake does all of this for you. Point it at your folders of raw frames, then adjust the result with live sliders.