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Crab Nebula (1999 Compass Image)

Hubble Space Telescope image of the Crab nebula, annotated with additional information. At the bottom right are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points in the 12 o’clock direction. The east arrow points toward 9 o’clock. At the lower left is one scale bar labeled 4 light-years and 2 arcminutes. The length of the scale bar is about one third the total width of the image. At the upper left is label text reading Crab Nebula M1, HST WFPC2 – 1999. Below this is the color key, with filter names appearing in the color assigned to them in the image. F502N is blue, F547M is cyan, F631N is green, and F673N is red.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope 1999 image of the Crab Nebula, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.

The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).

The scale bar is labeled in light-years and arcminutes. One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers. An arcminute is a measure of angular distance on the sky. There are 60 arcminutes in a degree. The full Moon has an angular diameter of about 30 arcminutes.

The color key shows which filters were used when the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 instrument collected the light. The color of each filter name is the visible-light color used to represent the light that passed through that filter.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    05:34:32.0
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    22:00:51.99
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Taurus
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    6,500 light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    The image is 6 arcminutes along the bottom (12 light-years)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal 8222 (J. Hester)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    WFPC2
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    October 1999 - January 2002
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F502N, F547M, F631N, F673N
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Crab Nebula, M1, NGC 1952
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Supernova Remnant
  • Release Date
    March 23, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Hubble Revisits Crab Nebula to Track 25 Years of Expansion
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, William Blair (JHU); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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Hubble Space Telescope image of the Crab nebula, annotated with additional information. At the bottom right are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points in the 12 o’clock direction. The east arrow points toward 9 o’clock. At the lower left is one scale bar labeled 4 light-years and 2 arcminutes. The length of the scale bar is about one third the total width of the image. At the upper left is label text reading Crab Nebula M1, HST WFPC2 – 1999. Below this is the color key, with filter names appearing in the color assigned to them in the image. F502N is blue, F547M is cyan, F631N is green, and F673N is red.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image was acquired by the WFPC2 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to a monochromatic (grayscale) image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F502N, Cyan: F547M, Green: F631N, Red: F673N

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Crab Nebula (2024)

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Crab Nebula (1999)

This newly processed image of the Crab Nebula comes from data originally captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 1999 and 2000.

Hubble Space Telescope image of the Crab nebula, annotated with additional information. At the bottom right are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points in the 12 ou2019clock direction. The east arrow points toward 9 ou2019clock. At the lower left is one scale bar labeled 4 light-years and 2 arcminutes. The length of the scale bar is about one third the total width of the image. At the upper left is label text reading Crab Nebula M1, HST WFC3/UVIS - 2024. Below this is the color key, with filter names appearing in the color assigned to them in the image. F502N is blue, F547M is cyan, F631N is green, and F673N is red.

Crab Nebula (2024 Compass Image)

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope 2024 image of the Crab Nebula, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.

Colorful nebula in space with a white haze throughout that is more concentrated in the center with a rippling effect. Colorful gas filaments appear to splash outward from the nebula center, colored yellow, magenta, and blue. Small white stars dot the background.

Crab Nebula Expansion over 25 Years

The Crab Nebula is a dynamic supernova remnant that has been expanding and evolving for nearly one thousand years. Often nebulas and other objects in space appear frozen in a single telescope snapshot, providing stunning detail but no sense of change over time. However, thanks to...

Colorful nebula in space with a white haze throughout that is more concentrated in the center with a rippling effect. Colorful gas filaments appear to splash outward from the nebula center, colored yellow, magenta, and blue. White stars dot the background.

Tour the Crab Nebula

This video highlights details in NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope images of the Crab Nebula. Hubble’s first observation of the full nebula began in 1999, and 25 years later it captured a new portrait. Hubble’s longevity and powerful instruments provide astronomers ...

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 23, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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