January 28, 2004
Galaxies were colliding long before you were born, and they will keep colliding long after us all.
The Crab Nebula from CFHT
Birthday · January 28, 2004
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APOD published January 28, 2004. Credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
This is the mess that is left when a star explodes. The Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova seen in 1054 AD, is filled with mysterious filaments. The filaments are not only tremendously complex, but appear to have less mass than expelled in the original supernova and a higher speed than expected from a free explosion. The above image, taken by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), is in three colors chosen for scientific interest. The Crab Nebula spans about 10 light-years. In the nebula's very center lies a pulsar: a neutron star as massive as the Sun but with only the size of a small town. The Crab Pulsar rotates about 30 times each second.
Image credit: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope