The above is from December 2022 - just using the same data but trying for more detail.
M1 - The Crab Nebula
The above image was reprocessed in December 2020 - the below image is my 2019 effort.
The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus. The now-current name is due to William Parsons, who observed the object in 1840 using a 36-inch telescope and produced a drawing that looked somewhat like a crab. Corresponding to a bright supernova recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054, the nebula was observed later by English astronomer John Bevis in 1731. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion.At an apparent magnitude of 8.4, comparable to that of Saturn's moon Titan, it is not visible to the naked eye but can be made out using binoculars under favourable conditions. The nebula lies in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, at a distance of about 2.0 kiloparsecs (6,500 ly) from Earth. It has a diameter of 3.4 parsecs (11 ly), corresponding to an apparent diameter of some 7 arcminutes, and is expanding at a rate of about 1,500 kilometres per second (930 mi/s), or 0.5% of the speed of light.
At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 kilometres (17–19 mi) across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second, which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. At X-ray and gamma ray energies above 30 keV, the Crab Nebula is generally the brightest persistent source in the sky, with measured flux extending to above 10 TeV. The nebula's radiation allows for the detailed studying of celestial bodies that occult it. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Sun's corona was mapped from observations of the Crab Nebula'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.
I actually also have 6 hours of SII data that I never worked as a separate layer into this image.....it was just getting too colourful for my liking. It was used however to assist make a Luminance layer (in tandem with the Ha & OIII data) that was included in the image processing - thus it did help the detail that is within the nebula. Therefore I have included it in the overall integration time stated.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging cameras: QSI 6120
Mounts: Takahashi EM 400 Temma 2M
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FS60CB
Guiding cameras: QHY CCD QHY 5 II
Focal Extender / Reducer: None
Software: Sequence Generator Pro SGP (for capture) PHD 2 (guiding), Astro Pixel Processor & PixInsight,
Filters: Astrodon Ha (3nm), Astrodon OIII (3nm), Astrodon SII (3nm), Astrodon RGB
Accessories: Robofocus Focuser, ATIK EFW3
Original Resolution: 1800 x 1200
Dates: 11th Jan 2019 - 13th Jan 2019
Frames:
Astrodon Ha 18 x 20'
Astrodon OIII 18 x 20'
Astrodon SII 18 x 20'
Astrodon RGB 3 x 10 x 3'
Total integration = 19.5 hours.
Center (RA, Dec):(83.632, 22.015)
Center (RA, hms):05h 34m 31.783s
Center (Dec, dms):+22° 00' 52.318"
Size:39.5 x 26.3 arcmin
Radius:0.395 deg
Pixel scale:1.32 arcsec/pixel
Orientation:Up is 272 degrees E of N
At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 kilometres (17–19 mi) across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second, which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. At X-ray and gamma ray energies above 30 keV, the Crab Nebula is generally the brightest persistent source in the sky, with measured flux extending to above 10 TeV. The nebula's radiation allows for the detailed studying of celestial bodies that occult it. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Sun's corona was mapped from observations of the Crab Nebula'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.
I actually also have 6 hours of SII data that I never worked as a separate layer into this image.....it was just getting too colourful for my liking. It was used however to assist make a Luminance layer (in tandem with the Ha & OIII data) that was included in the image processing - thus it did help the detail that is within the nebula. Therefore I have included it in the overall integration time stated.
Imaging telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging cameras: QSI 6120
Mounts: Takahashi EM 400 Temma 2M
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Takahashi FS60CB
Guiding cameras: QHY CCD QHY 5 II
Focal Extender / Reducer: None
Software: Sequence Generator Pro SGP (for capture) PHD 2 (guiding), Astro Pixel Processor & PixInsight,
Filters: Astrodon Ha (3nm), Astrodon OIII (3nm), Astrodon SII (3nm), Astrodon RGB
Accessories: Robofocus Focuser, ATIK EFW3
Original Resolution: 1800 x 1200
Dates: 11th Jan 2019 - 13th Jan 2019
Frames:
Astrodon Ha 18 x 20'
Astrodon OIII 18 x 20'
Astrodon SII 18 x 20'
Astrodon RGB 3 x 10 x 3'
Total integration = 19.5 hours.
Center (RA, Dec):(83.632, 22.015)
Center (RA, hms):05h 34m 31.783s
Center (Dec, dms):+22° 00' 52.318"
Size:39.5 x 26.3 arcmin
Radius:0.395 deg
Pixel scale:1.32 arcsec/pixel
Orientation:Up is 272 degrees E of N
Sky Map
Annotated Image
