This new Hubble Space Telescope image gives the most detailed view so far of the entire Crab Nebula in visible light. It was assembled from 24 individual exposures of Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. The Crab Nebula in the constellation Taurus holds the number one place in Messier's catalogue of the 18th century, which contains approximately 100 diffuse objects. The nebula is now known to be the expanding remnant of the supernova of 1054 reported by Chinese astronomers to be visible in daylight for 23 days and for almost two years in the night sky.
The radio pulsation of the rapidly spinning neutron star at the heart of the nebula was detected in 1968. Being the brightest steady source of X-rays and gamma-rays, the Crab Nebula has become the calibration reference for all high-energy missions. (Courtesy NASA, ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester, Arizona State University.)