Collection:
Puzzlopedia | Collection Cosmos
Puzzlopedia | Cosmos
Series:
Puzzlopedia | Series Nebula
Puzzlopedia | Puzzle APEX view of star formation and cosmic clouds in the Orion Nebula
Puzzlopedia | Puzzle Carina Nebula
Puzzlopedia | Nebula
RECORDS:

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Crab Nebula

Crab Nebula

This is a mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, of the Crab Nebula, a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion. Japanese and Chinese astronomers recorded this violent event in 1054 CE. The orange filaments are the tattered remains of the star and consist mostly of hydrogen. The rapidly spinning neutron star embedded in the center of the nebula is the dynamo powering the nebula's eerie interior bluish glow. The blue light comes from electrons whirling at nearly the speed of light around magnetic field lines from the neutron star.