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These images of the remnant of a tremendous stellar
explosion are giving astronomers a remarkable look at the dynamic
relationship between the tiny crab pulsar and the vast nebula that it
powers. The image shows the entire crab nebula, the remnant of a supernova
explosion, witnessed over 900 years ago. The nebula which is 10 light
years across, is 7000 light years away, in the constellation Taurus. The
green, yellow and red filaments, concentrated towards the edges of the
nebula, are remnants of the star that were ejected into space by the
explosion. At the center of the crab nebula lies the crab pulsar, the
collapsed core of the exploded star. The crab pulsar is a rapidly rotating
neutron star, an object only about 6 miles across, but containing more
mass than our Sun. As it rotates at a rate of 30 times per second, the
crab pulsar's powerful magnetic field sweeps around, accelerating
particles and whipping them out into the nebula at speeds close to the
speed of light. The blue glow in the inner part of the nebula, light
emitted by energetic electrons that spiral through the crab's magnetic
fields, is powered by the crab pulsar.
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