eurekalert.org — The Crab Nebula is one of the most intricately structured and dynamic objects ever observed. The new Hubble image of the Crab was assembled from 24 individual exposures taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WPFC2) and is the highest resolution image of the entire Crab Nebula ever made.
Dec 1, 2005 View in Crawl 4
jokitoroyoDec 1, 2005
Geez, and Nasa is willing to let that wonderful telescope go bye-bye. (I know they apprpriated some funds for Hubble upkeep but I'll believe it when I see it)
mrgeekguyDec 1, 2005
iworks, here is your Pluto pictures from Hubble.<a class="user" href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/image_category/solar%20system/pluto/">http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/image_category/solar%20system/pluto/</a>
ptbarnettDec 1, 2005
iworks, RTFA. The Crab Nebula is 6 light-years wide. It's also illuminated by the neutron star embedded in it. By comparison, Pluto is only 2,274 kilometers wide.Do the math: A light year is 9.4605284e+15 meters. 6 light-years is 5.67631704e+16 meters. 2,274 kilometers is 2.274e+6 meters.5.67631704e+16 / 2.274e+6 = 2.496e+10The Crab Nebula is about 25 billion times larger than Pluto.Pluto's eccentric orbit makes it difficult to compute a single distance from the Earth, but on 12/2/2005, Pluto will be 31.98723 AU from the Earth. The Crab Nebula is about 6500 light years away.31.98723 AU × 1.49598e+11 meters/AU = 4.78522563354e+12 meters6500 LY × 9.4605284e+15 meters/LY = 6.14934346e+19 meters6.14934346e+19 / 4.78522563354e+12 = 1.285e+7The Crab Nebula is "only" about 13 Million times farther away from the Earth than Pluto. But since it is 25 Billion times bigger, it appears to be much larger, from our vantage point.
littleoniDec 1, 2005
"so basically... nobody knows why...""iworks, RTFA. The Crab Nebula is 6 light-years wide. It's also illuminated by the neutron star embedded in it. By comparison, Pluto is only 2,274 kilometers wide.Do the math:A light year is 9.4605284e+15 meters.6 light-years is 5.67631704e+16 meters.2,274 kilometers is 2.274e+6 meters.5.67631704e+16 / 2.274e+6 = 2.496e+10The Crab Nebula is about 25 billion times larger than Pluto.Pluto's eccentric orbit makes it difficult to compute a single distance from the Earth, but on 12/2/2005, Pluto will be 31.98723 AU from the Earth. The Crab Nebula is about 6500 light years away.31.98723 AU × 1.49598e+11 meters/AU = 4.78522563354e+12 meters6500 LY × 9.4605284e+15 meters/LY = 6.14934346e+19 meters6.14934346e+19 / 4.78522563354e+12 = 1.285e+7The Crab Nebula is "only" about 13 Million times farther away from the Earth than Pluto. But since it is 25 Billion times bigger, it appears to be much larger, from our vantage point."Yes, iworks, nobody knows why....
spinesplitterDec 1, 2005
just like a winos brain, rofl's
pdaveDec 2, 2005
Great story, thanks, I love to see science stories at the top.
xzen54321Dec 2, 2005
<a class="user" href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/37/image/a+warn">http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2005/37/image/a+warn</a>Ok, read this page done? When do ya think this page was made?"But note that few computers will be able to handle even the downloaded version of this image." LOL
mr_yukDec 2, 2005
M1 (Crab Nebula) is about 6 X 4 arc-min in size and about Mag 9 in brightness when view fro the Earth. Pluto is .13 arc-sec and a Mag 14. Hubble camera has .03 arc-sec resolution and the Mag Brightness scale is log.
oldcyborgDec 4, 2005
Absolutely beautiful pictures.. Now we have to get there.. heheheCan you say, String Theory?Cyborg