Constellation: Taurus

Distance: 6500 light years

Magnitude: 8.4

Actual Size: 5.5 light years across

Visual Size: 6x4 arcminutes

Other Designations: NGC1952, Sharpless2-244

The Crab Nebula is a supernova remanent and pulsar wind Nebula. Chinese Astronomers observed and recorded the supernova which became the Crab Nebula back in 1054AD.

In modern times, it was observed and recorded by John Bevis in 1731, and independantly observed and recorded by Charles Messier in 1758, becoming the first object in the Messier catalogue.

The nebula is still expanding at the rate of 1500 kilometers per second.  At the centre of the Crab Nebula lies the Crab pulsar, which is rotating 30.2 times per second.