M 1 - Crab Nebula

IMAGE DETAILS

Object ............................................ Messier 1 - Crab Nebula
Constellation ..............................  Taurus
Distance + Ap. Magnitude.........  6500 Light Years - 8.4
Date + Time .................................  19&20 / 12 /2013
Location ....................................  
Remote imaging from "Nunki Observatory" - Skiathos
Optics .........................................
 Takahashi TSA 102
Tools ..........................................   The Sky X
Camera .....................................   SBIG ST-10XE with CFW10 (Astrodon filters)
Exposure Time.......................     LHa
RGB : L= 18X300 Ha= 18X600 sec -RGB 3 X 600 (each)
More Details ...........................    Environment Temperature : 7οC  Camera Temperature -15οC
Mount .......................................   Paramount ME
Guiding ....................................   Self guided

Processing Details ................    Photoshop , Maxim
Notes ........................................  
Weather: 8/10 Transparence: 4/6  Humidity : 78-88 %
Target details .........................  
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 John Bevis in 1731. At an apparent 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.
At X-ray and gamma ray energies above 30 keV, the Crab is generally the strongest persistent source in the sky, with measured flux extending to above 10 TeV. 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, which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion.
The nebula acts as a source of radiation for studying celestial bodies that occult it. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Sun's corona was mapped from observations of the Crab's radio waves passing through it, and in 2003, the thickness of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan was measured as it blocked out X-rays from the nebula.

© Nikos Paschalis