Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

M1: The Crab Nebula

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 24, 2021 is “M1: The Crab Nebula,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sherick). The original explanation runs about 161 words.

M1: The Crab Nebula
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sherick Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier’s famous 18th century list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant , debris from the death explosion of a massive star, witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054.”

— APOD editors, December 24, 2021

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 24, 2021
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sherick
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 161 words

All of December 2021 → · 2021 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

NebulaeSupernovaeComets

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 24 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.