The Crab Nebula, as we’ve never seen it before

JWST gives us a never-before-seen look at the Crab Nebula, a cloud of dust and gas left over from a massive star's death.
By | Published: October 30, 2023

The Crab Nebula, imaged by the Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim (Princeton University)
The Crab Nebula, imaged by the Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim (Princeton University)

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) turned its attention toward the Crab Nebula (M1) and revealed “exquisite, never-before-seen details” in this image released Oct. 30.

Tea Temim and team at Princeton University used the space-based telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to capture the new image of the supernova remnant 6,500 light-years away.

“Webb’s sensitivity and spatial resolution allow us to accurately determine the composition of the ejected material, particularly the content of iron and nickel, which may reveal what type of explosion produced the Crab Nebula,” Temim said in a release.

The Crab Nebula — “one of the most famous objects in our sky” — is a cloud of dust and gas left over from a massive star that went supernova about 7,470 years ago. That light was observed in 1054 and the nebula left behind, which required telescopes to spot, later got its name from William Parsons in 1844. Parsons thought it looked like a horseshoe crab.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured what Astronomy.com called the “best Crab image ever” in 2005. NASA’s new images released Oct. 30 have done that one better and include this Hubble and JWST side-by-side comparison:

The Crab Nebula as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in optical light (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope in infrared light. Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll (Arizona State University); Webb Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton University).
The Crab Nebula as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in optical light (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope in infrared light. Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll (Arizona State University); Webb Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, T. Temim (Princeton University).

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