Crab Nebula at a glance
Gas and dust between the stars
Crab Nebula is part of the interstellar medium: material that fills the space between stars. Some nebulae are places where new stars form, while others are created when stars shed or explosively eject material.
Why the colours can be vivid
Astronomy images often combine different wavelengths or emission lines to reveal structure. The result can be more colourful than the object would appear through the human eye, but the colours help separate different gases and physical processes.
A stage in stellar evolution
Crab Nebula connects to the life cycle of stars. Gas and dust can collapse into new stars, and stars later return processed material to space, enriching future generations of stars and planets.
From the original archive
This English guide is part of the rebuilt VisibleGalaxies archive and uses topic and visual material from the supplied source site.