Centre of the Crab Nebula

This is the central region of the Crab Nebula, the famous supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus (The Bull). It was obtained early in the night of "First Light" with the third 8.2-m VLT Unit Telescope, MELIPAL. It is a composite of several 30-sec exposures with the VLT Test Camera in three broad-band filters, B (here rendered as blue; most synchrotron emission), V (green) and R (red; mostly emission from hydrogen atoms). The Crab Pulsar is visible to the left; it is the lower of the two brightest stars near each other. The image quality is about 0.9 arcsec, and is completely determined by the external seeing caused by the atmospheric turbulence above the telescope at the time of the observation. The coloured, vertical lines to the left are artifacts of a "bad column" of the CCD. The field measures about 1.3 x 1.3 arcmin 2. This image may be compared with that of the same area that was obtained earlier with the FORS2 instrument at KUEYEN. (seeESO Press Photo eso9948 - The Crab Nebula in Taurus).

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso0004b
Type:Observation
Release date:28 January 2000
Related releases:eso0004
Size:885 x 827 px

About the Object

Name:Crab Nebula, M 1, Messier 1, NGC 1952, Taurus A
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Supernova Remnant
Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : Pulsar
Distance:6000 light years
Constellation:Taurus
Category:Nebulae
Stars

Image Formats

Large JPEG
224.7 KB
Screensize JPEG
216.3 KB

Wallpapers

1024x768
259.2 KB
1280x1024
400.6 KB
1600x1200
538.2 KB
1920x1200
614.4 KB
2048x1536
796.0 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):5 34 30.81
Position (Dec):22° 1' 20.45"
Field of view:1.36 x 1.27 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 44.6° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandTelescope
Optical
B
Very Large Telescope
Optical
V
Very Large Telescope
Optical
R
Very Large Telescope