M1 the Crab Nebula

It was only very recently that I realized what ... I had never imaged M1 before, being the most famous, studied and imaged supernova remnant!.

Messier 1, the Crab Nebula, is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus at a distance of about 6.500 light-years from Earth. The supernova explosion occurred in the year 1054, as recorded by Chinese astronomers, who reported that the "star" was visible in the daytime for almost a month.

At the center of the nebula there is a pulsating radio source, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star rotating at the incredible speed of 30 revolutions per second.

It has a diameter of 11 light years, and is still expanding at a rate of about 1.500 kilometers per second (about 0.5% of the speed of light).

An excellent animation of the expansion of the nebula over the years produced by Adam Block can be seen on this video from his YouTube channel.

The image is a first narrowband version of the remnant with the Ha-OIII-OIII palette (with RGB stars). From data acquired during the months of September-October this year with my remote observatory in Àger. Accumulates 20 hours of exposure.

Click on the image for a full size version, or go to the Gallery section for complete exposure details.

Observatory automation and remote operation with Talon6