images

The Crab nebula, wide field

by

D.De Martin/Novapix

Reference

a-snv11-00507

Date

2006-09-06

The north is at top. In the year 1054 AD a star in the constellation of Taurus exploded in a spectacular supernova so bright it appeared to dominate the sky except for the Sun and Moon for many days even in daylight. What we see now is the supernova remnant: a brilliant nebula, the first in the famous list compiled by Charles Messier. The nebula houses a spinning neutron star called a pulsar. The brilliant blue star is the 3rd magnitude Zeta Tauri. This image is based on data acquired by the Oschin Telescope at the Mount Palomar Observatory.