About the Object
Name: | Crab Nebula, M1, NGC 1952 | |
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Distance: |
6500 light years | |
Constellation: | Taurus | |
Category: | MIRI Nebulae NIRCam |
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 5 34 32.56 |
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Position (Dec): | 22° 0' 58.80" |
Field of view: | 5.33 x 4.62 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 1.9° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
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Infrared
Synchrotron | 4.8 μm | James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam |
Infrared
Sulfur | 18 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Infrared
Sulfur | 21 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Infrared
Dust | 18 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Infrared
Dust | 21 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Crab Nebula (MIRI and NIRCam image)
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope dissected the Crab Nebula’s structure, aiding astronomers as they continue to evaluate leading theories about the supernova remnant’s origins. With the data collected by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), a team of scientists were able to closely inspect some of the Crab Nebula’s major components.
For the first time ever, astronomers mapped the warm dust emission throughout this supernova remnant. Represented here as fluffy magenta material, the dust grains form a cage-like structure that is most apparent toward the lower left and upper right portions of the remnant. Filaments of dust are also threaded throughout the Crab’s interior and sometimes coincide with regions of doubly ionised sulphur (sulphur III), coloured in green. Yellow-white mottled filaments, which form large loop-like structures around the supernova remnant’s centre, represent areas where dust and doubly ionised sulphur overlap.
The dust’s cage-like structure helps constrain some, but not all of the ghostly synchrotron emission represented in blue. The emission resembles wisps of smoke, most notable toward the Crab’s centre. The thin blue ribbons follow the magnetic field lines created by the Crab’s pulsar heart — a rapidly rotating neutron star.
Credit:NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton University)