Located in the constillation Perseus; this 2 X 3 degree image is centered at about RA: 4h01m DE:+36°32'
Celestial North is to the left. The nebula is about 1000 light years away from earth.
The nebulas' discovery is attributed to E.E.Barnard in the mid 1840s.
Xi Persei, the bright blue colored star to the right (south) of the nebula is said to be a bright as 6300 of our suns.
This star probably supplies the energy to ionize the gas cloud we see as the California Nebula.