The Crab Nebula in Taurus

This photo shows a three colour composite of the well-known Crab Nebula (also known as Messier 1), as observed with the FORS2 instrument in imaging mode in the morning of November 10, 1999. 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 centre that spins 30 times per second around its axis (see below).

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 centre of the nebula and which is the remnant core of the exploded star. This pulsar has been identified with the lower/right of the two close stars near the geometric centre of the nebula, immediately left of the small arc-like feature, best seen in ESO Press Photo eso9948. Technical information: ESO Press Photo eso9948 is based on a composite of three images taken through three different optical filters: B (429 nm; FWHM 88 nm; 5 min; here rendered as blue), R (657 nm; FWHM 150 nm; 1 min; green) and S II (673 nm; FWHM 6 nm; 5 min; red) during periods of 0.65 arcsec (R, S II) and 0.80 (B) seeing, respectively. The field shown measures 6.8 x 6.8 arcminutes and the images were recorded in frames of 2048 x 2048 pixels, each measuring 0.2 arcseconds. North is up; East is left.

 

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Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso9948f
Type:Observation
Date de publication:17 novembre 1999
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso9948
Taille:4961 x 4990 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:Crab Nebula, M 1, Messier 1, NGC 1952, Taurus A
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : Pulsar
Distance:6000 années lumière
Constellation:Taurus
Catégorie:Nebulae

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
5,1 Mio
JPEG taille écran
280,5 Kio

Zoomable


Fonds d'écran

1024x768
322,1 Kio
1280x1024
469,7 Kio
1600x1200
645,9 Kio
1920x1200
760,7 Kio
2048x1536
975,9 Kio

Coordinates

Position (RA):5 34 31.96
Position (Dec):22° 0' 51.38"
Field of view:6.82 x 6.86 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° right of vertical

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
Visible
B
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Visible
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Visible
SII
Very Large Telescope
FORS2