The Crab Nebula, NGC 1952 or M1 is an expanding cloud of gas that forms the remnants of a supernova seen on July 4, 1054. It is now more than 6 light years in diameter and is still expanding at over 1,000 km/s (originally it was 10 000 km/s).
The original star was slightly larger than the Sun and the total mass of gas and matter ejected in the explosion was about 10% of the Sun’s mass.
The supernova was initially bright enough to be seen in daylight without aids. The Crab Nebula is located at a distance of about 6,500 light years in the constellation Taurus.
The centrally located remnant star, the Crab Pulsar, is a neutron star with a diameter of about 10 kilometers and about the same mass as the Sun. It is what was left when the original star exploded and the remnants collapsed, and rotates one revolution in 33 milliseconds, that is, about 30 revolutions per second, and the cones of light and particles it emits from the poles interact with the gas of the nebula, causing a complex pattern of stellar wind and fluorescence. The beams of particles cause an electromagnetic shock wave whose shape and position varies as they sweep over different parts of the surrounding gas cloud. Even in the equatorial plane, the wind of particles gives rise to an annular cloud veil of matter that moves out into the surrounding nebula.
The Crab Nebula emits so-called synchrotron radiation over a large frequency range, from radio wavelengths to X-ray and gamma wavelengths. It is a very strong source of X-rays. The radiation of the nebula, its spectrum and the period of the pulsar are known and fixed and are often used to calibrate instruments in X-ray astronomy.
M1, Crab nebula
The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula lies in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, at a distance of about 6,500 ly from Earth. It has a diameter of 11 ly and is expanding at a rate of about 1,500 kilometres per second or 0.5% of the speed of light.
At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 kilometres across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second, which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. At X-ray and gamma ray energies above 30 keV, the Crab Nebula is generally the brightest persistent source in the sky, with measured flux extending to above 10 TeV.
Photographed with CPC925 reflector telescope and Nikon D800 camera in Åva, March 2016. Exposure was 10*2min, guided.
M1, Crab nebula
The Crab Nebula (catalogue designations M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A) is a supernova remnant in the constellation of Taurus. The nebula lies in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, at a distance of about 6,500 ly from Earth. It has a diameter of 11 ly and is expanding at a rate of about 1,500 kilometres per second or 0.5% of the speed of light.
At the center of the nebula lies the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 28–30 kilometres across with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second, which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. At X-ray and gamma ray energies above 30 keV, the Crab Nebula is generally the brightest persistent source in the sky, with measured flux extending to above 10 TeV.
Photographed with APO107 refractor telescope and Atik monochrome CCD camera in Åva, February 2020. Exposure was 10min each of RGB, 40min HA, and 20min Lum. Post processing in Pixinsight and Photoshop.
M1, Crab nebula
The Crab Nebula, NGC 1952 or M1 is an expanding cloud of gas that forms the remnants of a supernova seen on July 4, 1054. It is now more than 6 light years in diameter and is still expanding at over 1,000 km/s (originally it was 10 000 km/s).
The original star was slightly larger than the Sun and the total mass of gas and matter ejected in the explosion was about 10% of the Sun’s mass.
The supernova was initially bright enough to be seen in daylight without aids. The Crab Nebula is located at a distance of about 6,500 light years in the constellation Taurus.
The centrally located remnant star, the Crab Pulsar, is a neutron star with a diameter of about 10 kilometers and about the same mass as the Sun. It is what was left when the original star exploded and the remnants collapsed, and rotates one revolution in 33 milliseconds, that is, about 30 revolutions per second, and the cones of light and particles it emits from the poles interact with the gas of the nebula, causing a complex pattern of stellar wind and fluorescence. The beams of particles cause an electromagnetic shock wave whose shape and position varies as they sweep over different parts of the surrounding gas cloud. Even in the equatorial plane, the wind of particles gives rise to an annular cloud veil of matter that moves out into the surrounding nebula.
The Crab Nebula emits so-called synchrotron radiation over a large frequency range, from radio wavelengths to X-ray and gamma wavelengths. It is a very strong source of X-rays. The radiation of the nebula, its spectrum and the period of the pulsar are known and fixed and are often used to calibrate instruments in X-ray astronomy.
Photographed with RC8″ reflector telescope and ASI 2600MC color camera in Stuvsta, January 2023. Exposure was 48*3min with IDAS LPS D2 light pollution filter.
M1, Crab nebula
The Crab Nebula, NGC 1952 or M1 is an expanding cloud of gas that forms the remnants of a supernova seen on July 4, 1054. It is now more than 6 light years in diameter and is still expanding at over 1,000 km/s (originally it was 10 000 km/s).
The original star was slightly larger than the Sun and the total mass of gas and matter ejected in the explosion was about 10% of the Sun’s mass.
The supernova was initially bright enough to be seen in daylight without aids. The Crab Nebula is located at a distance of about 6,500 light years in the constellation Taurus.
The centrally located remnant star, the Crab Pulsar, is a neutron star with a diameter of about 10 kilometers and about the same mass as the Sun. It is what was left when the original star exploded and the remnants collapsed, and rotates one revolution in 33 milliseconds, that is, about 30 revolutions per second, and the cones of light and particles it emits from the poles interact with the gas of the nebula, causing a complex pattern of stellar wind and fluorescence. The beams of particles cause an electromagnetic shock wave whose shape and position varies as they sweep over different parts of the surrounding gas cloud. Even in the equatorial plane, the wind of particles gives rise to an annular cloud veil of matter that moves out into the surrounding nebula.
The Crab Nebula emits so-called synchrotron radiation over a large frequency range, from radio wavelengths to X-ray and gamma wavelengths. It is a very strong source of X-rays. The radiation of the nebula, its spectrum and the period of the pulsar are known and fixed and are often used to calibrate instruments in X-ray astronomy.
Photographed with RC8″ reflector telescope and ASI 2600MC color camera in Stuvsta, January 2023. Exposure was 48*3min with IDAS LPS D2 light pollution filter.
