images

Center of the Crab nebula

by

ESO/Novapix

Reference

a-snv11-00521

Date

2006-09-06

Three colour composite of the well-known Crab Nebula (also known as "Messier 1"), as observed with the FORS2 instrument (VLT) 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 1000 years ago, in the year 1054. It contains a neutron star near its center that spins 30 times per second around its axis.