Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> The Crab supernova remnant in Taurus

The Crab supernova remnant in Taurus

author: ESO/Novapix

reference: a-snv11-00500

Image Size 300 DPI: 17 * 17 cm

M1 seen with the FORS2 instrument on the Very Large Telescope 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 In this picture, the red 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 syncrotron 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 center of the nebula, immediately left of the small arc-like feature.

Keywords for this photo:

1999 - ASTRONOMY - CRAB - EVOLUTION - FORS2 - M1 - NEUTRON STAR - NGC 1952 - PULSAR - STAR - SUPERNOVA - SUPERNOVA REMNANT - TAURUS - VERY LARGE TELESCOPE - VLT -