This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals how wave-like structures unleashed by the powerful remnant of a dead star move outward over time in the heart of the Crab Nebula.
The surviving remnant is the collapsed core of a burned-out star, and is called a neutron star. This powerhouse has about the same mass as the sun but is squeezed into an ultra-dense sphere that is only a few miles across and 100 billion times stronger than steel. It is a tremendous dynamo, spinning 30 times a second. This whirling dynamo is visible in the image as the bright object just below center. The object to the left of the neutron star is a foreground or background star.
The image was assembled from three separate exposures taken between September and November 2005 by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Each epoch was assigned a different color to show the motion of the wave-like features over time.
Credits
NASA and ESA;Acknowledgment: J. Hester (Arizona State University)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Crab Nebula, M1, NGC 1952 |
| Object Description | Supernova remnant |
| R.A. Position | 05h 34m 31.94s |
| Dec. Position | +22° 00' 52.2" |
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Distance | 6,500 light-years (2,000 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | These datasets are from the HST proposal , P.I.: M. Weisskopf (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC |
| Exposure Dates | September 6, 2005 and October 22, 2005 |
| Filters | September 6, 2005: F606W (V) and POLV60 |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | Blue: September 6, 2005 Green: October 22, 2005 Red: September 6, 2005 |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
