Science Source Stock Photo - Crab Nebula, M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A

Crab Nebula, M1, NGC 1952, Taurus A

Description: Photo shows a three color composite of the well-known Crab Nebula (also known as Messier 1). It is 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. In this picture, the green light is predominantly produced by hydrogen emission from material ejected by the star that exploded. The blue light is predominantly emitted by very high-energy (relativistic) electrons that spiral in a large-scale magnetic field (so-called synchrotron emission). It is believed that these electrons are continuously accelerated and ejected by the rapidly spinning neutron star at the center of the nebula and which is the remnant core of the exploded star.

Credit:

European Southern Observatory/Science Source

Unique identifier: SS2708778

Legacy Identifier: JC5811

Type: Image

Size: 3728px × 3750px (~39 MB)

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