M1 - Crab Nebula

In 1054, Chinese astronomers took notice of a “guest star” that was, for nearly a month, visible in the daytime sky. The “guest star” they observed was actually a supernova explosion, which gave rise to the Crab Nebula, a six-light-year-wide remnant of the violent event.

 

With an apparent magnitude of 8.4 and located 6,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus, the Crab Nebula can be spotted with a small telescope and is best observed in January. The nebula was discovered by English astronomer John Bevis in 1731, and later observed by Charles Messier who mistook it for Halley’s Comet. Messier’s observation of the nebula inspired him to create a catalog of celestial objects that might be mistaken for comets.

 

Telescope : T120 (www.obs-hp.fr/guide/t120.shtml)

Camera : Andor iKon-L 936 (www.obs-hp.fr/guide/camera-120/camera-120.shtml)

Filters : UBVRI Filter Set (www.obs-hp.fr/guide/camera-120/ubvri.shtml)

 

Acquisition :

Lights : RGB, total ~15min

Darks : no darks

Flats : 25 flats for each color

Bias : 25

 

Software :

Pre-processing : DeepSkyStacker

Processing : Siril, Pixinsight

Post-processing : Lightroom, Photoshop

Done