Definition of Crab Nebula

The men of old believed that the stars were eternal and immutable, but today we know that this is not so. Stars are born, develop and finally die from the effect of nuclear fusion. When a supernova star explodes as a result of its mass, the debris that is generated becomes a nebula of stellar dust.

Astronomers claim that this new training is a neutron star with a high density and a high force gravitational. One of these formations is the Crab Nebula.

The Crab Nebula formed almost a thousand years ago and was identified by Chinese astronomers

The supernova explosion that created the stellar Crab Nebula was observed for 22 months towards the middle of the 11th century. In the eighteenth century it was already possible to observe telescope this phenomenon and since then it has been the object of study for astronomers.

Its nebula mass is made up of gas and cosmic dust and is located 7000 light years from planet Earth, specifically in the constellation of Taurus. His

velocity expansion reaches 1500 km / s and has a diameter 11 light years. With the dust that is inside it, more than 30,000 planets like Earth could be formed. Astronomers claim that this type of cataclysm, the remnant of a supernova, has happened in our galaxy very rarely.

In astronomical nomenclature it is known as SN 1054 (the letters are the abbreviation for supernova and the numbers refer to the year in which the star formation was first seen).

Inside is the Crab Pulsar

The stars hold the Balance between two forces: the core of its interior that causes its expansion and the force of gravity that causes its contraction. If this balance is broken, an explosion occurs, which can generate a supernova.

The neutron stars that are generated emit electromagnetic radiation that in turn causes a jet of light with great Energy. This magnetic shaft functions as a powerful beacon that emits light and is known as a pulsar.

It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of pulsars throughout the galaxy

The observation of the Crab nebula is possible because inside there is a pulsar whose energy is 75,000 times that of the Sun (in astronomical nomenclature it is identified as PSR B0531 + 21).

The Crab Pulsar was discovered in 1969 and matches astronomical observations described in the 11th century.

Photo: Fotolia - Juulijs

Themes in Crab Nebula