astroinformatics.de

In the year 1054 Chinese astronomers noted a very bright star that could be seen in the bright daylight. John Bevis published a new star catalog (epoch 1746) and maps which showed not only stars, but nebula including the nebula photographed below. Charles Messier noted the same nebula as no. 1 in his list of nebulae. However, he is not the discoverer of the nebula, because different astronomers confirmed the discovery of the nebula earlier. Today, Messier 1 (or NGC 1952) is believed the supernova remnant visible from the star explosion seen by the Chinese astronomers. The green light seen from the nebula is dominated by oxygen gas, while the red filaments consist of hydrogen gas.

 

 

Telescope: Vixen VC200L, focal reducer f/6.4, Sphinx SXD
Camera: Canon EOS 60D, clear glass modification (internal filter removed), 400 ASA
Filter: Astronomik UV/IR EOS block filter
Exposure: 11 x 120s, auto-guided
Calibration: Dark (100 images), Sky-Flat (50 images)
Image Processing: Shift & add with correction of subpixel movement, improved noise reduction
Date of exposure: 03 March 2011
Software: ArgusPro SE, color saturation by Photoshop CS3

Remark: 

Seeing > 4" (average)