Wikipedia:POTD column/December 25, 2006



A mosaic image of the Crab Nebula, a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion. Chinese and Arab astronomers recorded this violent event nearly 1,000 years ago in 1054. The nebula derives its name from its appearance in a drawing made by Irish astronomer Lord Rosse in 1844, using a 36-inch telescope. The nebula contains a pulsar in its centre which rotates thirty times per second, emitting pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves. The nebula was the first astronomical object identified with a historical supernova explosion.

credit: Hubble Space Telescope Archive - More featured pictures...