Amazing Space- Fast Facts: Crab Nebula

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Fast Facts: Crab Nebula

Name	Crab Nebula, M1, NGC 1952
Description	A supernova remnant (the glowing remains of a massive star) with a pulsar (a type of neutron star) at its center
Age	The nebula formed about a thousand years ago from the supernova explosion noted by Chinese astronomers in 1054.
Location	Found in the constellation Taurus
Distance from Earth	6,500 light-years
Size	The nebula’s width, in the image below, is 8 light-years. Its length in this image is 11 light-years.

Nearly 1,000 years ago, Japanese and Chinese astronomers recorded the violent supernova explosion that left behind this remnant.