Moving heart of the Crab Nebula
While many other images of the famous Crab Nebula have focused on the filaments in the outer part of the nebula, this image shows the very heart of the Crab Nebula including the central neutron star — it is the rightmost of the two bright stars near the centre of this image.
The rapid motion of the material nearest to the central star is revealed by the subtle rainbow of colours in this time-lapse image, the rainbow effect being due to the movement of material over the time between one image and another.
Credit:ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Mahdi Zamani
About the Image
| Id: | heic1614a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 7 July 2016, 16:00 |
| Related releases: | heic1614 |
| Size: | 2125 x 2077 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Crab Nebula |
| Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant |
| Distance: | 6500 light years |
| Constellation: | Taurus |
| Category: | Nebulae |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 5 34 32.16 |
| Position (Dec): | 22° 1' 6.63" |
| Field of view: | 1.77 x 1.73 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 92.4° left of vertical |
View in ESASky:
View in WorldWide Telescope:
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical | 550 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Optical | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Optical | 550 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Optical | 606 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |