M 1 – The Crab Nebula

Description:

M1, the Crab Nebula is a remnant (what remains) of a supernova. This massive star explosion was observed in 1054 by a Chinese astronomer. It was then brighter than all other objects in the night sky except the Moon. The nebula was observed for the first time in 1731 by John Bevis then in 1758 by Charles Messier who made it the first object of his catalogue, hence the name M 1. In its center, there is now a pulsar rotating on itself 30 times per second and which radiates 200,000 times more energy than the Sun.