Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> M1, the Crab Nebula in Taurus

M1, the Crab Nebula in Taurus

author: R.Jay GaBany/Novapix

reference: a-snv11-00513

Image Size 300 DPI: 26 * 18 cm

M1, the Crab Nebula, is a supernova remnant from a star that exploded in 1054 AD and was witnessed and described by Chinese astronomers as being six times brighter than Venus. The supernova, located in the constellation of Taurus and about 7,000 light years away from the Earth, shined with the light of 400 million suns, was visible in the daytime for almost a month, and remained visible in the evening sky for more than a year. The nebula is expanding at a rate of about 2,000 kilometers per second- the cloud has grown to over ten light years in diameter since the time of its explosion. Protruding up from the red mass of filaments, is a towering dark-teal jet of material that was first seen in 1970 through long-exposure photographs due to its extreme faintness. Image taken between November and December 2006 representing almost 24 hours of total exposure through a twenty inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope.

Keywords for this photo:

2006 - 2007 - ASTRONOMY - EVOLUTION - JET - M1 - NEUTRON STAR - NGC 1952 - PULSAR - STAR - SUPERNOVA - SUPERNOVA REMNANT - TAURUS -