1,035 minutes Ha-OIII 7nm(1X1)
Takahashi 180C 180mm Dall-Kirkham telescope
ZWO ASI2600MC-Air (26 Megapixel astronomical color camera)
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Vol. 1: The Glow of Hydrogen and Oxygen
M1, better known as the Crab Nebula, was initially mistaken as Halley’s Comet by the famous comet hunter Charles Messier. However, once he realized this error, Messier was inspired to create his famous catalog of objects, of which this is the first, to prevent similar mis-identifications in the future.
Located about 6,500 light years in the distance, the Crab Nebula is the remnant of a massive star that exploded in 1054. Witnessed and documented by Chinese astronomers, the star was observed to be four times brighter than Venus and visible in the daytime sky for 23 days after it was first noticed.
Scientific estimates predict a supernova occurs about once every three decades in our galaxy. But, dense interstellar material obscures much of our view making observations of supernovae within the Milky Way rare events even though they are regularly seen in other galaxies.
Today, the nebula has grown to a diameter of about 10 light-years (approximately 10 trillion miles) and is continuing to inflate at a rate of over 600 miles per second (1,500 km/s).
The colors in this image do not match what we would see with our eyes, even if they were far more sensitive. Instead, they yield insight into the composition of this amazing stellar fossil. For example, the orange filaments are the tattered remains of the star and consist mostly of hydrogen. The blue in the filaments in the outer part of the nebula reveals the presence of neutral oxygen. These elements were expelled into the surrounding interstellar medium during the supernova explosion.
This image was produced under Bortle 5- 6 skies.
Crab Nebula Multi-spectral Suite Index
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Click here for a larger image!
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