M1 - Supernova Remnant in Taurus

The first object in Messier's catalog, the Crab Nebula is the remains of a supernova located in Taurus. It is old 6 arc minutes in size, about 1/5 the width of our moon.  Not a difficult object to see visually due to its surface brightness and total magnitude of 8.4.  Its distinctive football shape is obvious through a telescope of medium aperture.  Filamentary detail can be seen through long exposure shots.  Not hard to find, the Crab is located within a degree of the mag 3 zeta star in Taurus.

Location:  Ballauer Observatory in Azle, Texas
Seeing: 8/10 (2.5 FWHM)
Transparency: 4/10
Date and Time: November 19, 2003 @  12:30AM
Equipment: SBIG ST-7E, Tak FSQ-106 @ f/5, and Celestron CGE mount
Length: Four 10 minute exposures binned 1x1.  
Processing Information:  Dark frames, gradient removal, registration and Sigma Combine in MaxIm 3.0.  Levels, Curves, Gaussian Blur and Unsharp Mask in Photoshop 7.  

Exposure Notes:  First light image with the new Celestron CGE mount.

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