Tour the colorful Crab Nebula with this stunning new 3D visualization

[Admin]

A new 3D movie highlights the Crab Nebula, beginning with its location in the constellation Taurus and zooming in to show off its dynamic features.

Tour the colorful Crab Nebula with this stunning new 3D visualization : Read more

 

[Sunspot]

I have been looking at The Crab Nebula for decades through a variety of telescopes, and this visualization is fantastic! It's amazing what we can do now.

 

[rod]

Good video showing optical, infrared, and x-ray views of M1. I last viewed on 02-Nov-2019. My log shows "Observed 2230-0045 EDT. First Quarter Moon 04-Nov-19 at 1023 UT. I observed M1 in Taurus tonight using XT10i. Good views at 48x and 86x using Orion Sirius 25-mm plossl and TeleVue 14-mm Delos. It is somewhat elongated, irregular shape but easier to see than with 90-mm refractor. No detail visible but still fun to view this supernova remnant or SNR...While I viewed, 3 Taurid meteors flashed through Taurus, about 2nd magnitude."

This was in optical light. The pulsar is a very dense neutron star. Mean densities >= 1E+14 g cm^-3.

 

[Meteoric Marmot]

A new 3D movie highlights the Crab Nebula, beginning with its location in the constellation Taurus and zooming in to show off its dynamic features.

Tour the colorful Crab Nebula with this stunning new 3D visualization : Read more

I'm curious as to how the scientists derived the fine distance data that I assume is necessary to construct a 3D image. I think 6000 ly is too far away to use Earth's orbit to get parallax information. Is it based on Doppler shifting?

 

[rod]

I'm curious as to how the scientists derived the fine distance data that I assume is necessary to construct a 3D image. I think 6000 ly is too far away to use Earth's orbit to get parallax information. Is it based on Doppler shifting?

Expansion rate comparisons over time and angular size changes, "The Crab Nebula currently is expanding outward at about 1,500 km/s (930 mi/s).[29] Images taken several years apart reveal the slow expansion of the nebula,[30] and by comparing this angular expansion with its spectroscopically determined expansion velocity, the nebula's distance can be estimated. In 1973, an analysis of many methods used to compute the distance to the nebula had reached a conclusion of about 1.9 kpc (6,300 ly), consistent with the currently cited value.[3]", ref https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula