Facts
The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus. Corresponding to a bright supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054, the nebula was observed later by English astronomer John Bevis in 1731. At anapparent magnitude of 8.4, comparable to that of the largest moon of Saturn, it is not visible to the naked eye but can be made out using binoculars under favourable conditions.
Located at a distance of about 6,500 light-years (2 kpc) from Earth, the nebula has a diameter of 11 light years (3.4 pc, corresponding to an apparent diameter of some 7 arc minutes) and expands at a rate of about 1,500 kilometers per second (0.5% c). It is part of the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 km across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second, which emits pulses of radiation fromgamma rays to radio waves. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion. (Wikipedia)
Object: M1 The Crab Nebula
Date: 15.09.2012
Location: Sollihøgda, Bærum, NO
Camera: DSLR Canon EOS 7D
Optics: Celestron SCT 8″ 1260mm f6,3
Exposure: 5 x 5 min lightframes
5 x 5 min darkframes
ISO: 1600
Guiding: Celestron NexGuide
Post processing: DSS, PhotoShop CS5
Håvard's Observatory 