M1 12/31/10 – 1/1/11

01 January 2011

Hello Everyone,

Here in Seattle we have had three months of constant rain. Now that’s a long time since I’ve had the telescope out!

During the rain I did a lot of maintenance work on the CGE mount, including replacing the DEC and RA electrical connectors with DIN plugs – a major project!

As you can see below, the work paid off!  The scope is working great, and the new finder-guider scope is doing a great job.

This particular image of M1 is the result of two nights of imaging combined into a single image.  Here are the specifics:

M1 (aka the “Crab Nebula”) is a supernova remnant
58 exposures, with 5-minute subs at ISO 1600
Imaging scope:  Celestron C11 on CGE Mount
Reducers:  Celestron f/6.3 focal reducer
Filters:  Astronomik CLS
Imaging camera:  Canon XS/1000d with heatmirror replace with Baader filter glass
Guide scope:  Modified Celestron 9×50 finder scope
Guide camera:  Orion Starshoot Autoguider
Captured with Nebulosity
Background Flattened with Fitswork
Stacked in DSS
Guided with PHD

Some facts about M1:
“The Crab Nebula (Messier 1), located in the constellation of Taurus, is a supernova remnant (SNR), the result of a cataclysmic supernova explosion in the year 1054. This explosive death of a star was so bright that it could be seen in the daytime sky for 23 days, and was documented by astronomers throughout the Far East.”