Messier 1 (aka. M1, NGC 1952, Sharpless 244, and the Crab Nebula) is a supernova remnant located in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, roughly 6500 light years from Earth. Like all supernova remnants, it is an expanding cloud of gas that was created during the explosion of a star. This material is spread over a volume approximately 13 ly in diameter, and is still expanding at a velocity of about 1,500 km/s. At the center of the Crab Nebula are two faint stars, one of which is the star that went supernova. The very first recorded information on this supernova event reaches as far back as July 4, 1054 A.D. by Chinese astronomers who marked the presence of a “new star” visible in daylight for 23 days and 653 nights. It is because of this star that M1 is a strong source of radio waves, X-rays and Gamma-ray radiation. The remnant of supernova SN 1054 was discovered in 1968 and has since been designated as a radio pulsar. This rapidly rotating star is believed to be about 28–30 km in diameter and emits pulses of radiation – ranging from radio wave and X-ray – every 33 milliseconds.
Messier 1 – cropped image at 200%
Telescope: 16″ f3.75 Dream Scope
Camera: FLI ML16803
Mount: ASA DDM85
Exposure: 6 hours (20x300s L + 3x6x300s RGB + 2x18x300s Ha & O3)
Date: January 2020
Location: Southern Alps, France
Messier 1 in the larger FOV
Bart Delsaert - Astrophotography 