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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- M1: The Crab Nebula
NASA ^ | November 21, 2014 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 11/23/2014 11:14:59 AM PST by SunkenCiv

Explanation: The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, debris from the death explosion of a massive star, witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. This sharp, ground-based telescopic view uses narrowband data to track emission from ionized oxygen and hydrogen atoms (in blue and red) and explore the tangled filaments within the still expanding cloud. One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot near the nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is a mere 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

November 21, 2014

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: 1054ad; ad1054; apod; astronomy; crabnebula; crabpulsar; m1; neutronstar; science; taurus
[Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh]

1 posted on 11/23/2014 11:14:59 AM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; dayglored; ...
The Big One

2 posted on 11/23/2014 11:16:07 AM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Celebrate the Polls, Ignore the Trolls)
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To: SunkenCiv
Crab?


3 posted on 11/23/2014 11:18:59 AM PST by Slyfox (To put on the mind of George Washington read ALL of Deuteronomy 28, then read his Farewell Address)
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To: SunkenCiv

A remnant?

Still looks like ya could cook an egg in any place in near proximity to it..

BTW, rich crop of dungeness this year.. Probably due to global warming.. Bon appetite!!


4 posted on 11/23/2014 11:25:38 AM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi - Revolution is a'brewin!!!)
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To: SunkenCiv

X-Ray (left) and optical (right) images of the Crab pulsar


5 posted on 11/23/2014 11:28:41 AM PST by COBOL2Java (I'm a Christian, pro-life, pro-gun, Reaganite. The GOP hates me. Why should I vote for them?)
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To: SunkenCiv
Two photos, 27 years apart shows it actually expanding:

Photobucket

And at the core, a rapidly spinning stellar remnant:

Photobucket

Oh wait, not that...
6 posted on 11/23/2014 11:40:18 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

maybe our solar system is just closer?


7 posted on 11/23/2014 11:43:43 AM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

I’m saving that image to the drive, oh, and the Crab Nebula timelapse was also nice.


8 posted on 11/23/2014 11:44:35 AM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Celebrate the Polls, Ignore the Trolls)
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To: GeronL

Not in just 27 years. You have to compare it to the background stars, which remain motionless.


9 posted on 11/23/2014 11:47:37 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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10 posted on 11/23/2014 11:51:06 AM PST by RedMDer (I don't listen to Liars but when I do I know it's Barack Obama.)
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To: COBOL2Java

Nice!


11 posted on 11/23/2014 12:07:21 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Celebrate the Polls, Ignore the Trolls)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Did you notice the star in the upper right disappearing? Maybe a planet or asteroid?


12 posted on 11/23/2014 1:53:24 PM PST by Nateman (If liberals are not screaming you are doing it wrong!)
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To: Nateman

Yes, and that’s what I thought too. There are more stars in the later picture because it’s better quality. The disappearing one in the earlier must be something else.


13 posted on 11/23/2014 2:49:05 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: COBOL2Java

It looks kind of like a space tornado in X-ray.


14 posted on 11/23/2014 4:42:09 PM PST by TigersEye (ISIS is the tip of the spear. The spear is Islam.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

I think I figured it out. It was on the margin and the latest picture has that margin cut. The proof is another star that only has half it’s glow.


15 posted on 11/23/2014 9:59:07 PM PST by Nateman (If liberals are not screaming you are doing it wrong!)
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To: Nateman

Well now I can sleep at night again, thanks :)


16 posted on 11/24/2014 4:55:34 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: SunkenCiv

I love these pictures of celestial objects!


17 posted on 11/27/2014 12:42:14 PM PST by SuziQ
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