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.