James Webb zooms in on a thousand-year-old supernova remnant

The Crab Nebula is one of the most famous supernova remnants and has been imaged many thousands of times by (amateur) astronomers and space telescopes. Now the James Webb Telescope has taken a look at the nebula and the results are stunning.

In 1054, Chinese astronomers saw a star explode. The star remained visible with the naked eye for 23 days. The result lies 6,500 light-years away: the Crab Nebula. The supernova remnant is now eleven light-years across and can be found using a telescope in the constellation Taurus.

The image was captured using Webbs NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid Infrared Instrument). Thanks to this infrared image, astronomers now know better how the gas and dust are distributed In the first Messier object.

Super compact LEDs
At the heart of the Crab Nebula, a neutron star – or pulsar – rotates on its axis thirty times every second. This pulsar has a radius of about ten kilometers, making it smaller than a medium-sized city. However, this pulsar is more massive than the Sun. Neutron stars are very compact and are also “perfect” spheres. Did you know that the mountains in neutron stars are less than a millimeter high?

Synchrotron radiation in the picture
Just like in the Hubble image Wavy red-orange filaments and gas knots appear around the center of the nebula. If you zoom in closely, you’ll see that the central region of the Crab Nebula in particular is “fuzzier” than in the Hubble image. This is due to synchrotron radiation. The pulsar at the heart of the Crab Nebula is a massive source of energy and produces syncotron radiation. Scientists can use irregular patterns to determine the strength, shape, and location of magnetic fields.

Below, see the differences between the twenty-year-old Hubble image and the most recent image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Find the pulsar
Do you want to see a neutron star with your own eyes? A pulsar can be clearly seen in the center of the Crab Nebula. Follow the circular strings of the heart and you will automatically reach a bright white star.

James Webb continues to amaze us
The James Webb Space Telescope has been active for a year and a half. In this short period, dozens of beautiful images have already been shared: from dusty nurseries full of protostars to giant galaxies with supermassive black holes and from the icy worlds of our solar system to rare Wolf-Rayet stars. Curious about the most beautiful pictures? This summer, visitors to Scientias.nl chose the ten most beautiful pictures of James Webb. Winner: This terrifying image of the Eagle Nebula. Traditionally, the space image of the year will be selected at the end of this year and then there is a good chance we will see the Crab Nebula again.