NGC1499 the whole deal

 

Following on from the image  posted of part of NGC1499 , we used data from the old 'Cluster camera' on Mount Teide-Tenerife  (part of the then Bradford Robotic Telescope) and added infra red data from the WISE infra-red space telescope, to  produce this dusty and Ha enhanced image  of the full California Nebula. Credits: telescope.org Open Observatories, Astrometry net, NASA/JPL and Pip Stakkert.

" This emission nebula is large and often pops up in our widefield images of the area of sky encompassing the constellations Perseus and Taurus. It stretches 2.5 degrees across the sky and is about 100 light years across. It is approximately 1000 light years away in the constellation Perseus.  For an idea of scale the Moon which is less than 250,000 miles distant has an apparent diameter of only 0.5 degrees. The California Nebula glows red as the hydrogen gas is excited by the ultra violet light from the nearby star Menkib (Xi Persei)" - Karl Segin outreach coordinator at the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Credit: Astrometry. net

Widefield image taken from the Jodrell Plank Observatory, showing the California Nebula top left and the Pleiades bottom right.