tagged with: breathtaking astronomy images, neutron stars, pulsars, supernovae explosions, supernova remnant, galaxies, outer space exploration, universe photographs, crab nebula, hrbstslr crbneb, messier 1, star ejecta, european southern observatory, heavens, eso, vista
Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series: A great outer space picture featuring a three colour composite of the well-known Crab Nebula (also known as Messier 1).
It's the remnant of a supernova explosion at a distance of about 6,000 light-years, observed almost 1,000 years ago, in the year 1054. It contains a neutron star near its center that spins 30 times per second around its axis (see below).
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image code: crbneb
ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
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