FIUCASE
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula, also called M1 or NGC 1952, is a very important supernova remnant first discovered in 1731. However, the supernova eruption that caused the Crab was actually seen on Earth by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD. Its distance is around 6,500 light years away from Earth, so the explosion happened in 5446 BC! The nebula is a result of a massive star that ended its stellar lifetime in a huge thermonuclear blast called a supernova. The clouds of gas from the outer parts of the star were ejected into space at speeds approaching 1,500 km/sec and are what we see in the image above. Embedded deep in the nebula, not resolvable by our ground=based telescope, is the Crab pulsar. The pulsar is a rapidly spinning stellar remnant that is so dense, the entire star, called a neuron star, is as dense as an atomic nucleus. This image was taken by Patrick Ford and Daniella Roberts using the 24-inch telescope at FIU's Stocker AstroScience Center. The exposures were 20 seconds long through RGBL filters to achieve accurate color rendition of the nebula. The exposures were reduced and color combined by Patrick Ford.
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula, also called M1 or NGC 1952, is a very important supernova remnant first discovered in 1731. However, the supernova eruption that caused the Crab was actually seen on Earth by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD. Its distance is around 6,500 light years away from Earth, so the explosion happened in 5446 BC! The nebula is a result of a massive star that ended its stellar lifetime in a huge thermonuclear blast called a supernova. The clouds of gas from the outer parts of the star were ejected into space at speeds approaching 1,500 km/sec and are what we see in the image above. Embedded deep in the nebula, not resolvable by our ground=based telescope, is the Crab pulsar. The pulsar is a rapidly spinning stellar remnant that is so dense, the entire star, called a neuron star, is as dense as an atomic nucleus. This image was taken by Patrick Ford and Daniella Roberts using the 24-inch telescope at FIU's Stocker AstroScience Center. The exposures were 20 seconds long through RGBL filters to achieve accurate color rendition of the nebula. The exposures were reduced and color combined by Patrick Ford.