Messier 45 (M45), also known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, is a bright open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus, the Bull. The Pleiades cluster has an apparent magnitude of 1.6 and lies at an average distance of 444 light years from Earth.


The California Nebula (NGC 1499) is an emission nebula (Hydrogen-alpha rich) located in the constellation Perseus, the Hero. It is so named as it somewhat resembles the west coast U.S. State of the same name.

The region between is full of interstellar dust; as can be seen in this image.

Shot using a Nikon D810 and Sigma Art 135mm f/1.8 lens at f/2.8; ISO 200; Skywatcher EQ6-R equatorial mount; guiding with a 60mm guidescope and Altair GPCam2-IMX290 guide camera and PHD2.

42 x 5 minute subs for a total integration of 210 minutes.

Stacked in DSS; and Processed using Pixinsight and Photoshop CC 2018.

Imaged from Beckwith Township, Ontario.