A colourful Crab with the Esprit 150

[ShineOn]

In the year 1054AD, Chinese observers witnessed and documented a supernova in our night sky. The explosive fallout from this shone so brightly it was even visible in the daytime for many days.  The remnants of this event formed what we now call the Crab Nebula as seen in this photo I took.  It also happens to be the first object that the French astronomer Charles Messier catalogued as part of his list of objects to avoid being mistaken for comets, when he independently discovered it in 1758.  Hence it's designation of M1. The Crab lies some 6500 light years away, so the actual moment of supernova occurred around 5500 BC.  Unusually for a deep sky object it is possible to see changes in it's appearance over a few years, as the nebula is still expanding at around 1000km per second.   Have a look at this 10 year timelapse movie showing this! (https://www.astrobin.com/327338/0/)

RGB data was collected to produce natural star colours but the bulk of the photons were collected through 3nm Antlia narrowband filters.  The Sky-Watcher Esprit 150 is starting to earn it's keep now!

Gear used:
Imaging telescope: Skywatcher Esprit 150ED Pro
Imaging camera: ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro
Guiding camera: ZWO ASI224 MC
Accessory: ZWO EAF Electronic Auto Focuser 
Switch: Pegasus Pocket Powerbox Advance

Image details:
Antlia 3nm Ha: 24 x 600 secs
Antlia 3nm Oiii: 19 x 600 secs
Antlia 3nm Sii: 21 x 600 secs
Antlia RGB: 5 x 60 secs per filter (for stars)
Gain 100 @ -25C bin 1x1
Total integration: 10 hrs 55 mins
Darks: 30
Flats: 30 per filter
Flat darks: 30 per filter
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 4.00
Imaging dates: Several dates between 20/01/22 and 20/03/22
Imaging location: Bakewell, Derbyshire, UK
Data acquisition: NINA
Processed: Pixinsight, Photoshop, Topaz Denoise
Higher resolution: https://www.astrobin.com/yyffnk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportysi/

[Sunshine]

A wonderful and detailed image of the crab! And I mean DETAILED!

Edited April 12, 2022 by Sunshine

[Ronclarke]

Wow, great M1 image!

[glafnazur]

Super image, love the colours 👍

[Shibby]

Very impressive structure your image is showing off - great work!