Image of the Day: Monster Pulsar at the Center of the Crab Nebula (Weekend Feature)

Image of the Day: Monster Pulsar at the Center of the Crab Nebula (Weekend Feature): "The Crab Nebula is a pulsar wind nebula and a supernova remnant that was recorded by Chinese astronomers and Arab astronomers in 1054 AD with a luminosity about 75,000 times greater than that of the Sun in the constellation of Taurus. At the center of the nebula lurks the Crab Pulsar, a rotating neutron star, which emits pulses of radiation from gamma rays to radio waves with a spin rate of 30.2 times per second. The discovery of a pulsating radio source in the centre of the Crab Nebula was strong evidence that the pulsar is the crushed core of a massive star that long ago exploded as a supernova. Neutron stars pack more than the sun's mass into a ball nearly 60,000 times smaller. With estimated sizes between 10 and 15 miles across, a neutron star would just span across Manhattan."