BEAUTY: 
BRAGGING RIGHTS: You saw a dead star
HOW EASY IS IT TO SEE? Best with a small telescope
best time to see it: Winter (in Taurus)
TYPE: Supernova Remnant
DISCOVERED: 1731 by John Bevis
Our sun is not heavy enough to explode into a supernova. Once it runs out of hydrogen and helium, the sun’s gravity will compress it down to a white dwarf—a compact star the size of the Earth.
But larger stars have a more spectacular fate. A star 10 times heavier than the sun will not stop collapsing at the white dwarf stage. It will continue collapsing, all the while fusing heavier and heavier elements, until it forms a core of solid iron, which cannot be fused efficiently. Then the outer layers crash down on this incompressible core, and the star flares up in an explosion visible across the universe: a supernova.
In the year 1054, Chinese astronomers recorded that titanic event happening in the constellation of Taurus. A new star appeared, outshining Venus and it was visible even in daylight. In time it faded, and after a few years, it was no longer visible. At least not with the naked eye.
But today, if you point your telescope at that exact spot, you’ll see the ghostly remains of that explosion. Messier 1 is all that’s left of an old cataclysm that, for a brief time, was as bright as our entire galaxy.
Dark skies required. You can find the Crab Nebula about 1 degree (two full moon widths) away from Zeta Tauri (see chart below).
The remnant of that long-ago explosion has faded considerably. It shines at magnitude 8 or 9, just possibly visible with binoculars under dark skies. A telescope reveals a fuzzy patch of light, but much patience is required to see any detail.
A ragged shell. Compare your view of M1 against those of the Ring Nebula and the Dumbbell Nebula. Those planetary nebulae look more symmetrical, almost stately, compared to the ragged and misaligned supernova remnant.
The pulsar. The massive neutron core of the star is still there. It holds more weight than our sun in a sphere just 12 miles across—about the length of Manhattan. Unfortunately, the dead star—spinning rapidly and emitting fierce radiation—is invisible in all but the largest amateur telescopes.
TAURUS REGION IN WINTER; 30-DEGREE FIELD OF VIEW
