M1 - The Crab Nebula

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M1, the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant in Taurus.

Location: Ballauer Observatory in Azle, Texas

Seeing: 8/10 (2.5 FWHM)

Transparency: 4/10

Date and Time: November 19, 2003 @ 12:30AM

Equipment: SBIG ST-7E, Tak FSQ-106 @ f/5, and Celestron CGE mount

Length: Four 10 minute exposures binned 1x1

Processing Information: Dark frames, gradient removal, registration and Sigma Combine in MaxIm 3.0. Levels, Curves, Gaussian Blur and Unsharp Mask in Photoshop 7.

Exposure Notes: First light image with the new Celestron CGE mount.

About this Object

The first object in Messier's catalog, the Crab Nebula is the remains of a supernova located in Taurus. It is only 6 arc minutes in size, about 1/5 the width of our moon. Not a difficult object to see visually due to its surface brightness and total magnitude of 8.4. Its distinctive football shape is obvious through a telescope of medium aperture. Filamentary detail can be seen through long exposure shots. Not hard to find, the Crab is located within a degree of the mag 3 zeta star in Taurus.

🤖 AI-drafted · unverified

What it is: M1, the Crab Nebula, is the expanding debris cloud from a supernova explosion recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD, with a pulsar at its heart.
Constellation: Taurus
Distance: ~6,500 light-years
Apparent magnitude: 8.4
Angular size: ~6 × 4 arcminutes
Coordinates: RA 05h 34m 31s, Dec +22° 00′ 52″

This summary was generated by an AI assistant from general astronomical references, not from Jay's own notes on this specific image. Treat every detail above as a starting point for research, not settled fact.