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Chandra X-ray Image of Crab Nebula, Adaptively Smoothed
(Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO)

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Crab Nebula:
Chandra Discovers X-Ray Ring Around Cosmic Powerhouse in Crab Nebula


Crab Nebula
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova explosion that was seen on Earth in 1054 AD. It is 6000 light years from Earth. At the center of the bright nebula is a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar that emits pulses of radiation 30 times a second.



Multi-wavelength Images: (*Images not to scale)

X-ray
Crab Nebula - Chandra X-ray image NASA/CXC/SAO
Jpg (133 k)
Tiff (3.9 MB)
PS (3.4 MB)
Optical
Crab Nebula - optical Palomar Obs.:
Jpg (93 k)
Tif (3.6 MB)
PS (495 k)
Infrared
Crab Nebula - infrared 2MASS/UMass/IPAC- Caltech/NASA/NSF:
Jpg (231 k)
Tif (18.7 MB)
PS (3.5 MB)
Radio
Crab Nebula - radio NRAO/AUI/NSF:
Jpg (42 k)
Tif (1.7 MB)
PS (3.6 MB)


Fast Facts for Crab Nebula:
Credit  NASA/CXC/SAO
Scale  Image is 2.5 arcmin across.
Category  Supernovas & Supernova Remnants, Neutron Stars/X-ray Binaries
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 05h 34m 32s | Dec +22° 0.0´ 52"
Constellation  Taurus
Observation Dates  August 29, 1999
Observation Time  1 hours
Obs. IDs  168
Color Code  Intensity (Chandra: 0.3-3keV bandwidth)
Instrument  ACIS
Also Known As NGC 1952
Distance Estimate  6,500 light years
Release Date  September 28, 1999