A single exposure telephoto image has captured the California nebula (NGC 1499) and the Pleiades Star Cluster (M45), also known as the Seven Sisters. The California Nebula is a huge cloud of gas, mainly hydrogen, which glows due to the ionization of the hydrogen gas by ultraviolet radiation from the star Xi Persei. The nebula takes its name from its resemblance to the outline of the state of the USA. In the foreground is an Euphorbia balsamifera (Balsam Spurge), a plant distributed from Arabian Peninsula to Sahara and Canary Islands, photographed here in La Palma, Canaries.