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Crab Pulsar

Pulsar · Pulsar in the constellation Taurus

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Crab Pulsar
Picture: Optical: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al. X-Ray: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

About the Crab Pulsar

The Crab Pulsar is about 6,523 light-years from the Sun, so the light we see from it left about 6,523 years ago.

It is 33,475 light-years from the centre of the Milky Way.

The map lists it as a pulsar and shows it among the stars around the Sun, drawn on the plane of the Milky Way.

Key numbers

Distance6,523 light-years (2,000 pc)
Distance from the Galactic centre33,475 light-years
Galactic coordinatesl = 184.56°, b = -5.78°
Spin period33.4 ms
Distance methodindependent (parallax or association)

Data: ATNF Pulsar Catalogue v2.9.0.

Where it is

Its place in the universe, from the inside out: Perseus Arm › Milky Way › Local Group › Virgo Supercluster › Laniakea Supercluster › Observable universe.

Zoom out to see it in context: Local Arm, a view about 12,000 light-years across.

From Wikipedia

The Crab Pulsar is a relatively young neutron star. The star is the central star in the Crab Nebula, a remnant of the supernova SN 1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054. Discovered in 1968, the pulsar was the first to be connected with a supernova remnant.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Crab Pulsar, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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