Hubble image archive
Crab Nebula (2024)
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured the intricate detail of the Crab Nebula with its Wide Field Camera 3. The colors in the image trace Hubble’s detection of oxygen and sulfur gases in the nebula at varying densities and energies. The blue areas are the hottest and lowest dens...
- Date
- Sep 8, 2026
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- crab-nebula-2024
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured the intricate detail of the Crab Nebula with its Wide Field Camera 3. The colors in the image trace Hubble’s detection of oxygen and sulfur gases in the nebula at varying densities and energies. The blue areas are the hottest and lowest density. While there is not a lot of green in the image, showing dense neutral oxygen, there is quite a lot of yellow, which appears where green and the red of energized sulfur are near to each other and similarly bright.
The white haze in the central region is synchrotron radiation, which is produced by interaction between the magnetic field of the central pulsar and the Crab’s nebulous material. This emission heats the surrounding filaments, causing them to glow. Synchrotron radiation is also powering the nebula’s ongoing expansion, distinguishing the Crab from other well-known young supernova remnants. The Crab Nebula is the closest supernova remnant of this kind to Earth, making it invaluable to astronomers using Hubble to study its evolution in unparalleled detail.
Image Details
About the Object
| R.A. Position | 05:34:32.0 |
|---|---|
| Dec. Position | 22:00:51.99 |
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Distance | 6,500 light-years |
| Dimensions | The image is 6 arcminutes along the bottom (12 light-years) |
About the Data
| Data Description | The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal 17500 (W. Blair) |
|---|---|
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | February - April, 2024 |
| Filters | F502N, F547M, F631N, F673N |
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Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov