Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)  ·  Contains:  Crab nebula  ·  M 1  ·  NGC 1952  ·  Sh2-244
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M1, Crab Nebula, Rick Veregin
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M1, Crab Nebula

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M1, Crab Nebula, Rick Veregin
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M1, Crab Nebula

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Description

As its name would suggest, M1 is the object that prompted Charles Messier to create his famous catalog, as he searched for the predicted return of Halley's comet. M1, or the Crab Nebula, is the remnant from a supernova explosion which was recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054 A.D., and surely noticed by anyone who glanced at the sky, as it was visible for about 2 years in the night sky, and even visible during the day for nearly a month. The power behind this event is hard to imagine, since M1 is 6500 light years away. The nebula is currently 11 light-years in diameter, and still expanding fast enough that it visibly increases in size year-to-year. At its center is a pulsar, a neutron star rotating 30 times per second, which emits periodic pulses of light as it rotates. The filaments are visible mostly from the emission of excited hydrogen, but the nebula is also lit by sulfur, oxygen and a blue glow from synchrotron radiation, from electrons accelerated to near the speed of light by intense magnetic fields. Other emissions, not visible in this photo, include x-rays, gamma rays and radio.

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M1, Crab Nebula, Rick Veregin