Due to Tropical Storm Ophelia I am skipping my normal Sunday spin class and Bike ride, so I decided to revisit Messier 1.   I think these versions improve on my earlier image.  Once the clouds part and the next clear early morning  I am planning to spend more time on Messier 1 (Messier 1 is one of my favorite objects, I do wish I had a larger aperture telescope).  I will be using my ASI2600MCP and I think the L-Ultimate Filter.

Messier 1 is being researched by research astronomers using the JWST cycle 1 program.  Dr. Tea Temim has a interesting 2021 Youtube video called  "Origin of the Crab Nebula"

A rapidly spinning neutron star (the ultra-dense core of the exploded star) is embedded in the center of the Crab Nebula. Electrons whirling at nearly the speed of light around the star’s magnetic field lines produce the eerie blue light in the interior of the nebula. The neutron star, like a lighthouse, ejects twin beams of radiation that make it appear to pulse 30 times per second as it rotates.
Messier 1 (M1), also known as the Crab Nebula, Taurus A, or NGC 1952, is an expanding supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula. It is located in the northern constellation Taurus, the Bull. The Crab Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8.4 and can be seen with binoculars in good viewing conditions.Messier 1 is the only supernova remnant listed in Messier’s catalogue and the most famous object of its kind in the night sky. The nebula has a total luminosity 75,000 times that of the Sun and lies at a distance of 6,500 light years from Earth.

The Crab Nebula is the result of a supernova explosion, SN 1054, that was observed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD. It was the first deep sky object to be associated with a historical supernova explosion.Messier 1 is about 11 light years (3.4 parsecs) in diameter and keeps expanding at a rate of about 1,500 kilometres per second. The supernova remnant contains the Crab Pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star that spins at a rate of 30.2 times per second. The pulsar, also catalogued as PSR 0531+21, is the youngest one observed. It emits radiation in optical, radio, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma ray wavelengths.As a radio source, M1 is catalogued as Taurus A and 3C 144. It was identified as a strong source of radio emission in 1949. X-ray emissions from the nebula were detected in April 1963 and the X-ray source was named Taurus X-1. M1 is the strongest persistent source of X-rays and gamma rays in the sky, with energies measuring above 30 kiloelectron volts (keV).The Crab Nebula is part of the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. Only three other supernovae have been seen in our galaxy since SN 1054.The explosion of the progenitor star produced a large shell of filaments that has continued to expand ever since and will eventually disperse and disappear into the surrounding space.The nebula’s filaments contain ionised gas which is responsible for the nebula’s glow. The electrons found in the gas move at speeds close to the speed of light, emitting synchotron radiation, which makes the nebula visible in radio wavelengths.The filaments of the Crab Nebula are what is left of the progenitor star’s atmosphere and they mainly consist of ionised hydrogen and helium, along with other elements including oxygen, carbon, iron, nitrogen, sulfur and neon. The temperatures of the filaments are typically in the range from 11,000 to 18,000 K.

Messier 1 lies near the southern horn of the celestial Bull. It is located 1 degree northwest of the bright star Zeta Tauri. The star can easily be found by first locating Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus, and then following the line of the V-shape that Aldebaran is part of, to Zeta Tauri. Aldebaran can be located by following the line formed by the three stars of Orion’s Belt. It is the first bright star that appears on that imaginary line.

@Messier-objects.com