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Image taken from the NTU telescope
This is an image of the supernova remnant, called M 1. It was taken using the 20 inch telescope on 11 February 2008. The blue areas represent very hot thin gas left inside the explosion cloud. This can be compared to the flame of a Bunsen
burner, which turns from red to blue when it becomes hotter. The red filaments show areas of dense gas, being swept along,
that surround the explosion cloud. The gas around the outside of the cloud is far more dense than that inside; it forms clumps,
strings, and it cools rapidly. The very hot gas is heated by the remains of a dead star, known as a pulsar. This is an incredibly
dense, small, and rapidly rotating star. It can be compared to a star that has twice the mass of our Sun, but is squashed
into a 12 km ball and spins around itself 30 times in just one second. The image is an unusual composite of:
- A blue 3 x 2 min long image taken in the B band
- A red 5 x 2 min long image taken with a Halpha filter
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