Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
In the Heart of the Crab
Explanation:
The supernova [ http://imagine.gsfc…] explosion that formed the Crab Nebula [ http://www.seds.org…] was first seen [ http://oposite.stsc…] on the year 1054. Last week, astronomers released [ http://heritage.sts…] a new image of the still-evolving center of the explosion. The above representative-color photograph [ http://heritage.sts…] was taken in colors emitted by specific elements [ http://chemlab.pc.m…] including hydrogen [ http://chemlab.pc.m…] (orange), nitrogen [ http://pearl1.lanl.…] (red), sulfur [ http://pearl1.lanl.…] (pink), and oxygen [ http://pearl1.lanl.…] (green), with the result appearing oddly similar to a Jackson Pollock [ http://metalab.unc.…] painting. Visible is a complex array of gas filaments [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] rushing out at over 5 million kilometers per hour. Even at these tremendous speeds, though, it takes a filament over 600 years to cross the 3 light year [ http://www.howstuff…] wide frame. The rapidly spinning neutron star [ http://www.astro.um…] remnant [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of this ancient cataclysm [ http://violet.pha.j…] is visible as the lower of the two bright stars just above the photograph [ http://heritage.sts…] center. The Crab Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] (M1 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]) is located 6,500 light-years away towards the constellation [ http://www.starshin…] of Taurus [ http://www.astronom…].
Credit and Copyright:
William P. Blair [ http://violet.pha.j…] (JHU [ http://www.pha.jhu.…]) et al. [ http://heritage.sts…] Hubble Heritage Team [ http://heritage.sts…] (STScI [ http://www.stsci.ed…]/AURA [ http://www.aura-ast…]), NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
keyword:
neutron star
keyword:
Crab Nebula
keyword:
filaments
facet_where:
Jackson
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_what:
Aura
facet_what:
Starshine
facet_what:
Taurus
facet_what:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap000605

In the Heart of the Crab
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