Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 March 10 [2]The starry image filled with a red glow features a red, yellow, and blue colored nebula. The nebula has, roughly, the shape of the US state of California. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. NGC 1499: The California Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Toni Fabiani Mendez Explanation: Could [4]Queen Calafia's mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes the outline of the state of [5]California, USA. Our [6]Sun has its home within the Milky Way's [7]Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years from the [8]California Nebula. Also known as [9]NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around 100 [10]light-years long. On the [11]featured image, the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light characteristic of [12]hydrogen atoms recombining with [13]long lost electrons, stripped away ([14]ionized) by energetic starlight. The star most likely providing the [15]energetic starlight that [16]ionizes much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot, bluish [17]Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. A regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula [18]can be spotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the constellation of [19]Perseus, not far from the [20]Pleiades. Explore Your Universe: [21]Random APOD Generator Tomorrow's picture: galaxy bar __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy, [39]Accessibility, [40]Notices; A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC, [44]NASA Science Activation & [45]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2503/California_Mendez_2604.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/toni_fabiani/ 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calafia 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140506.html 7. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/5000lys.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Nebula 9. https://spider.seds.org/spider/Misc/n1499.html 10. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ 11. https://www.instagram.com/p/DFncpPQsfOJ/ 12. https://periodic.lanl.gov/1.shtml 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/lament.html 14. https://energyeducation.ca/wiki/images/3/3d/IONIZATION.png 15. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves 16. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ion-balloons/en/ 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Persei 18. https://www.rover.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/curious-cat-looking-in-a-box.jpg 19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation) 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220405.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250309.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.com/feed.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250310 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250311.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 44. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 45. http://www.mtu.edu/