Crab Nebula
Also known as Messier 1 (M1), the Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant resulting from a stellar explosion observed in 1054 CE. Located approximately 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, it spans about 10 light-years and is expanding at roughly 1,500 kilometers per second.
Source: apod.nasa.gov
APODs including "Crab Nebula"
The Crab Nebula in Blue and White
11/07/2000
The Crab Nebula is a complex shell of expanding gas. The Crab Nebula formed from a star that was seen to explode in a supernova about 1000 years ago. This two color composite image taken with the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope shows in great detail filamentary structure of the glowing hydrogen gas. Also known as M1, the center is home to a dense neutron star, a star as massive as our Sun but only the size of a city. The neutron star is a pulsar that spins thirty times a second and spits out energy that powers the nebula. The nebula is named from its likeness to a crab in an early drawing. The Crab Nebula still presents mysteries today as the total mass of the nebula and pulsar appears much less than the mass of the original pre-supernova star!