Crab Nebula

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Object Details

Description
The Crab Nebula shows the remains of an exploded star located about 6,500 light years from Earth. The powerhouse “engine” energizing the Crab system is a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star, shooting out pulses of radiation 30 times a second. X-ray information from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was used to create a three-dimensional representation of the Crab. The X-ray structure shows the pulsar and a ringed disk of energized material, with jets of particles that fire off from opposite ends of the energetic pulsar.
Description Credit: NASA/STScI/F.Summers, et al.; NASA/Caltech /IPAC/R.Hurt; NASA/CXC/SAO/N.Wolk, et al.; NASA/CXC/SAO/A.Jubett et al.
Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Record ID
dpo_3d_200117
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
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