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Crab Nebula (Messier 1) and the Crab Pulsar

node · earth · Constellation Taurus, as seen from Earth

The expanding remnant of the supernova recorded in 1054, and the object that connected historical observation, supernova theory and neutron stars into one chain. It lies about 6,500 light-years away in Taurus and is roughly ten light-years across. At its centre is the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star rotating every 33.4 milliseconds, discovered in 1968 - the discovery that showed pulsars were the compact remnants of supernovae rather than an unrelated class of object. The nebula's continuing glow is powered not by the original explosion but by the pulsar's rotational energy, which is measurably slowing. It is the best-studied supernova remnant in the sky and serves as a standard reference source across the X-ray and gamma-ray bands. Not a place on Earth.

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Evidence · 2
Timeline

No dated observations are stored for this object. Atlas shows what was observed and when — it does not infer a history.

Connections · 1
Assembled narrative · 1

Assembled from 15 blocks · 2 evidence · 9 related

  1. Story
  2. The expanding remnant of the supernova recorded in 1054, and the object that connected historical observation, supernova theory and neutron stars into one chain. It lies about 6,500 light-years away in Taurus and is roughly ten light-years across. At its centre is the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star rotating every 33.4 milliseconds, discovered in 1968 - the discovery that showed pulsars were the compact remnants of supernovae rather than an unrelated class of object. The nebula's continuing glow is powered not by the original explosion but by the pulsar's rotational energy, which is measurably slowing. It is the best-studied supernova remnant in the sky and serves as a standard reference source across the X-ray and gamma-ray bands. Not a place on Earth.
  3. Knowledge
  4. Crab Nebula (Messier 1) and the Crab Pulsar
  5. A guest star appears in Taurus and is recorded in East Asia
  6. Connections
  7. A guest star appears in Taurus and is recorded in East Asia
  8. A guest star appears in Taurus and is recorded in East Asia
  9. A pulsar is found inside the Crab Nebula
  10. Crab Nebula (Messier 1) and the Crab Pulsar
  11. Supernova
  12. Crab Nebula (Messier 1) and the Crab Pulsar
  13. Evidence
  14. Supports the recording of a guest star in Taurus in 1054 and its identification with the Crab Nebula. The conventional first-sighting date of 4 July 1054 is contested in the source-critical literature and is presented here as disputed rather than settled. None of the reviews was fetched.
  15. Supports the description of the Crab Nebula as a pulsar-wind-powered remnant with a rotation period near 33 milliseconds. The review was not fetched; the 33.392 ms period and the ~6,500 light-year distance come from reference summaries and are quoted as approximate.
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Observed changes · 0

No public Signals are attached to this object. Signals show what changed and when it was observed — never a direction or a rank.

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Read the assembled narrativeContinue in StudioOpen TwinTwin does not start a decision from this kind of object.ShareSaveSaved objects are part of the authenticated projection, which is declared and not yet built.

/atlas?object=OBJECT_CRAB_NEBULA&experience=OBJECT_CRAB_NEBULA