The route / Crab Nebula
Sector 11 · Supernova remnant
Crab Nebula
The wreck of a star seen exploding in 1054, with a pulsar spinning 30 times a second inside.
In 1054, astronomers in China recorded a new star bright enough to see in daylight for weeks. The Crab Nebula, Messier 1, is the expanding cloud left by that explosion.
At its centre is a pulsar: the collapsed core of the star, about 20 km across but heavier than the Sun, spinning around 30 times a second and sweeping beams of radiation across space like a lighthouse.
Key facts
- Distance
- About 6,500 light-years
- Supernova seen
- 1054
- Size
- About 11 light-years across
- Pulsar spin
- About 30 times a second
Crab Nebula in Comet Courier
In the Crab Nebula sector tangled filaments of gas surround a flickering pulsar, its two beams sweeping round as you fly.