The Crab

Last night waves of wispy clouds kept flowing across the sky. I pointed the telescope at M1, the Crab Nebula, and took a 2 minute exposure. Not much, but more than I expected:

crab through cloud

So I set the scope for 30 2-minute exposures, and went away to dinner.

But apparently after 5 crummy shots like the above, the sky cleared for a short window, and the remaining 25 were good. Unfortunately clouds returned, along with a heavy mist, so I covered the scope for the night.

Here is the sum of the 25 shots:

cCrab Nebula through thin clouds

It looks more like a brain than a crab.  Maybe a crab without legs? But turquoise and gold on black velvet, at least. If it’s clear tonight I’ll add more exposures.

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