12.5" RCOS Ritchey-Chretien at f/6.9

Astro-Physics 1200 GTO

SBIG ST-10XME

Tru-Balance LRGB filter set

14 January 2004

Red Cloud Road, Eastern Riverside County C

L 5 x 600 sec 1x1 bin; RGB 3 ea x 300 sec 2x2 bin

Maxim DL/CCD, Registar, CCDSharp, Photoshop

The Crab Nebula is in reality a supernova remnant. The actual supernova event was recorded by Chinese astronomers in the year 1054 AD, it shining with a brightness about four times that of Venus and remaining visible in the daytime sky for 23 days. The actual gas cloud itself was discovered by John Bevis in 1731. The rapidly expanding envelope of gas, now occupying a span of about 10 light years across and expanding at a rate of 1800 km/sec, is located about 6300 light years from earth. At it's heart lies a rapidly rotating 16th magnitude neutron star, or pulsar, spinning at approximately 30 revolutions per second and providing the energy to illuminate the nebula.