James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

Investigating the Origins of the Crab Nebula With NASA's Webb

Webb is cracking open the Crab Nebula to help scientists figure out what is inside. The Crab is the remnant of what was once a massive star, but it’s highly unusual in composition, making scientists think its star might not have been typical either. Webb also mapped light emitted from the dust in the Crab Nebula in high resolution for the first time. Unlike other supernova remnants, which have dust concentrated at their centers, the Crab Nebula’s dust is found in the outer shell’s dense filaments. Read more: go.nasa.gov/4c68xKE Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim (Princeton University) Image Description: The Crab Nebula. An oval with complex structure extends from lower left to upper right against a black background. On the oval’s exterior lie curtains of glowing yellow and green fluffy material. Its interior shell shows large-scale loops of mottled filaments of yellow-white and green, studded with clumps and knots. Translucent thin ribbons of smoky blue lie within the remnant’s interior, brightest toward its center. The blue material follows different directions throughout, including sometimes sharply curving away from certain regions within the remnant. A faint, wispy ring of blue material encircles the very center of the nebula. Around and within the supernova remnant are many points of blue, green, purple, and white light. Image & Description by NASA