A pulsar is found inside the Crab Nebula
The detection of a 33-millisecond pulsar at the centre of the remnant of the 1054 supernova closed the chain that had been open since 1934: a recorded historical explosion, an expanding remnant, and a neutron star at its centre with a rotation period short enough to require an object only kilometres across. It also explained why the nebula still glows - the pulsar's rotational energy, measurably decreasing, powers it.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Crab Nebula (Messier 1) and the Crab Pulsar · celestial body · Constellation Taurus, as seen from Earth · not located
- Neutron star · celestial body · Galactic · not located
- Supernova · phenomenon · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
The surprising Crab pulsar and its nebula: A review
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.
Reports on Progress in Physics (preprint arXiv:1309.7046) · 2014 · Partly verified
arXiv:1309.7046, "The surprising Crab pulsar and its nebula: A review"
Recorded on Crab Nebula (Messier 1) and the Crab Pulsar
- A guest star appears in Taurus and is recorded in East Asia
- Baade and Zwicky propose supernovae and neutron stars
- A regularly pulsing radio source is identified
- A pulsar is found inside the Crab Nebula
- SN 1987A: neutrinos from a collapsing core reach Earth
- A neutron-star merger is detected in gravitational waves and light
- A radius is measured for the heaviest known neutron star
- JWST finds the compact object in SN 1987A
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- JWST finds the compact object in SN 1987A · 2024-02-22
- A radius is measured for the heaviest known neutron star · 2021
- A neutron-star merger is detected in gravitational waves and light · 2017-08-17
- SN 1987A: neutrinos from a collapsing core reach Earth · 1987-02-23 ~07:35 UT (neutrinos); optical discovery 1987-02-24
- A regularly pulsing radio source is identified · 1967-11-28
- Baade and Zwicky propose supernovae and neutron stars · 1934
- A guest star appears in Taurus and is recorded in East Asia · 1054 (first sighting commonly given as 4 July; contested)