In 1054 , Taiwanese observers were leave astonished when a bright star suddenly appeared in the sky . It was four times bright than Venus , and seeable in daytime for three weeks . What they saw was a supernova , which they called a “ guest star ” . Today , it take shape the celebrated Crab Nebula .
Thanks to the Hubble Telescope , we have just been handle to a stunning novel view of this famous nebula , located in the configuration of Taurus 6,500 light - years from Earth . You ’ve probably visualize anotherfamous imageof the Crab Nebula snapped in 1999 and 2000 , but this in vogue composite gives us a panorama mightily into the nebula ’s heart .
In particular , this figure ( which measures about 3 unclouded - years across ) shows us the bright neutron wizard – the remnant of the supernova – residing inside the nebula , called the Crab Pulsar . In the figure of speech , this neutron sensation is the right one of the two bright stars near the shopping center , just below that eldritch oval shape .
That oval bod itself is the result of the rapid movement of nearby material cause by the neutron star , which has the same masses of 1.4 suns pack into a sphere just a few tens of kilometers across . This neutron lead rotates at 30 time a second , which makes it a pulsar .
“ It is unleashing rich amounts of energy that are labor on the lucubrate swarm of dust from the supernova detonation — like an animal rattling its cage , ” saysNASA . “ This include moving ridge - like tsunamis of charged particle imbed in pernicious magnetic study . ”
This nerveless video above zooms in on the Crab Nebula
Elsewhere in the persona , you ’ll see quite a mint of red . This is ionize gas , or plasm , which is whirl around this region of space . And around the neutron mavin is a blue glow that , allot toESA , is “ radiation give off by electrons spiral in the powerful magnetic field around the champion at nigh the speed of light . ” Here , the pulsar ’s intense magnetic field funnels incoming gas and fires it out from its poles in two symmetrical jets of material .
From stunned commentator 1,000 years ago to cosmic explorers today . Who knows where we ’ll be in another 1,000 years .
Below is the full novel picture in all its aura . You deserve it .
NASA / ESA
