M1 / NCC1952
"Crab Nebula"
Pulsar Location

The pulsar is located by a small arrow on the inset image. A pulsar is a neutron star, i.e., a stellar object composed entirely of neutron particles. It is only about 10 miles in diameter but contains several solar masses and is incredibly dense. It also spins rapidly, hundreds of RPM for a typical one. It has an enormously strong magnetic field, the axis of which is usually not coincident with the spin axis. Particles and radiation are "beamed" out along the magnetic field axis and create a lighthouse effect due to rotation. If the earth is in line with the surface of the beam cone, we see rapid regular pulses from the object; hence the term pulsar.

It has been noted by Dr. Michael Shull, University of Colorado, and others that the Crab pulsar is not located at the apparent center of the debris cloud. Close examination places it left and below the apparent center in the image; it also has proper motion in that direction. This would indicate that the explosion was not symetric around the collapsed core of the supernova. This asymetry has been detected in a number of other supernova remnants.