. # 15
The Crab nebulae, M1. This is the first object listed by Charles Messier
almost 250 years ago.  He was looking for comets, and found comet-like
objects that didn't move.  He listed them in a catalog, which has since
become known as Messier objects.  His original catalog had almost 100 of
these objects.  Most all objects in my album, except for Solar System
objects, are from Messier's catalog, because these objects are the most
impressive for amateur astronomers with relatively small telescopes.
Unlike the other nebulaes, the Crab was a party animal; it lived fast &
died hard.  The red-white gas-like object in the center of the image is
the remains of a Supernovae that occured in the year 1054 A.D.  Chinese
astronomers listed it in their records, saying that it was even visible
during the day for about 20 days.  These stars are so heavy that gravity
collaspes the star; the resulting energy is like comparing a flea to an
elephant.  Guess what's the elephant!  The central star, un-detectable
in this image, is known as a pulsar.  This image appears "weird" because
my original negative's image was so washed out that it would just barely
print! Another computer software program analyzed the image, found the
dimmest bits of light, and then enhanced them compared to the rest of
the image.  The "streaking" of the other light sources are just other
normal stars; I still haven't been able to PRECISELY counter the speed
of Earth's rotation (about 1000 mph) for the 7 minutes of exposure time
needed just to get anything, before light pollution fogs my film! Taken
in 3/94, the Crab is over 6000 light-years away.


#15     from IMG0016.pcd, taken 03/11/94, f/6.3, ASA 100, 7min