That's 1,500 kilometers per second, seen from 6,500 light years away.
Posted on 03/20/2023 2:21:10 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: Are your eyes good enough to see the Crab Nebula expand? The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first on Charles Messier's famous list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, an expanding cloud of debris from the explosion of a massive star. The violent birth of the Crab was witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. Roughly 10 light-years across today, the nebula is still expanding at a rate of over 1,000 kilometers per second. Over the past decade, its expansion has been documented in this stunning time-lapse movie. In each year from 2008 to 2022, an image was produced with the same telescope and camera from a remote observatory in Austria. The sharp, processed frames even reveal the dynamic energetic emission surrounding the rapidly spinning pulsar at the center. The Crab Nebula lies about 6,500 light-years away toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus).
I don't know how to post the youtube screen shot. But this is an excellent clip of the Crab Nebula over 14 years. The clip is only 2 seconds and you will want to watch many times so here is what you have to do: Right click on the image at the link. Click on the "loop selection, second from top on my computer. Then click on the video arrow for the youtube clip. Especially interesting is the turbulence around the central spinning pulsar.
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Thanks for posting that! how do you post that?
It’s a gif from a different site. You can’t post videos.
That’s just so bitchin’ bitching!
That’s pretty cool!
But boiled they are pretty good!
Best crab cakes I've ever eaten.
That status still stands after testing crab cakes from all over for over 30 years.
The research must continue!
Holy smokes! It’s coming RIGHT FOR US !!!
Well done. The animation makes it look almost as if it’s a living thing.
It's a terrible thing to lose.
I see what you did there. Heh. :-)
They had a hubble shot of the Cat’s Eye nebula where each pic was a few years apart it was only a few frames. I think they should have done the same shot every single year. This is also a good candidate for an annual shot. After 20 years, you’d have good data, and a fantastic GIF
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