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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       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.   
      
                                 2023 December 19   
       A red gaseous nebula is shown in front of a dark starfield. The shape   
        of the nebula resembles the US state of California. Please see the   
                    explanation for more detailed information.   
      
                          NGC 1499: The California Nebula   
                      Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Powell   
      
      Explanation: Could 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 California, USA. Our Sun has its   
      home within the Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years   
      from the California Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic   
      emission nebula is around 100 light-years long. On the featured image,   
      the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light   
      characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons,   
      stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. The star most likely   
      providing the energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebular gas   
      is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. A   
      regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula can be   
      spotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the   
      constellation of Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.   
      
                   Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator   
                          Tomorrow's picture: ice fog sky   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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