Crab Nebula

Crab Nebula — nebula, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.

The shredded remains of a star Chinese astronomers watched explode in 1054 — bright enough then to see in daylight. A city-sized pulsar still powers the glow.

Type
Supernova remnant
Distance
6,500 light-years
Exploded
Seen on Earth in 1054 AD
Heart
Pulsar spinning 30×/second
Expanding at
1,500 km/s

Seeing Crab Nebula in real time

Crab Nebula is placed at its true position on the sky and at its real measured distance, not as a flat backdrop. Fly out from the Sun in the live 3D view and watch it change from a point of light into structure as you approach, with the scale bar showing just how far out you have travelled.

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