Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Crab Pulsar Wind Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 27, 2008 is “Crab Pulsar Wind Nebula,” an image. It is credited to Credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / F. D. Seward, W. H. Tucker, R. A. Fesen. The original explanation runs about 179 words.

Crab Pulsar Wind Nebula
Credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / F. D. Seward, W. H. Tucker, R. A. Fesen Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The Crab Pulsar , a city-sized, magnetized neutron star spinning 30 times a second, lies at the center of this remarkable image from the orbiting Chandra Observatory. The deep x-ray image gives the first clear view of the convoluted boundaries of the Crab’s pulsar wind nebula.”

— APOD editors, December 27, 2008

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 27, 2008
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / F. D. Seward, W. H. Tucker, R. A. Fesen
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 179 words

All of December 2008 → · 2008 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 27 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.