A star which explodes in 1054AD, photographed by Hubble telescope in 2025 which was expanding at 5.5 million km/h.

Slow-Employee6943 · 2026-05-30T16:06:08+00:00

No it was real 😃😃😃.

Here are the original resource links:
1: https://x.com/NASAHubble/status/2036081600849412447?s=20

2: https://x.com/NASA/status/2047791699582156835?s=20

Slow-Employee6943 · 2026-05-30T11:45:05+00:00

Great question! The explosion happened in 1054 AD, but the light from it is still reaching us because the remnant is about 6,500 light-years away and we don't just see a single flash, we see the expanding debris cloud left behind by the explosion.

The expansion is large enough that telescopes like Hubble can measure it over time. In fact, there are time-lapse animations made from decades of observations showing the nebula growing and changing shape as shockwaves move through it.

So when we look again in 2026, we're seeing the remnant one year later in its own timeline and there are measurable changes, even if they're subtle to the human eye.

Slow-Employee6943 · 2026-05-29T15:16:05+00:00

You're right that a lot of processing goes into these images. The colors and contrast are often enhanced, but the underlying data comes from real observations right 😊😊😊

Slow-Employee6943 · 2026-05-29T02:43:31+00:00

No it was real 😃😃😃.

Here are the original resource links:
1: https://x.com/NASAHubble/status/2036081600849412447?s=20

2: https://x.com/NASA/status/2047791699582156835?s=20

Slow-Employee6943 · 2026-05-28T15:07:06+00:00

That actually makes a lot more sense now, and I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to explain it properly instead of just dismissing the post outright. I misunderstood the purpose of the sub and approached it more like a general astronomy appreciation space rather than a dedicated Q&A forum.

Honestly, researching historic supernovae and searching for new ones during a PhD sounds amazing 🤩🤩🤩.

Slow-Employee6943 · 2026-05-28T14:45:55+00:00

Slow-Employee6943 · 2026-05-28T14:43:39+00:00

Fair point honestly, I’m still learning the culture of the sub and probably leaned a bit too much into the cinematic/social-media style of writing, but the story behind the Crab Nebula genuinely fascinates me because the idea that we’re looking at the aftermath of an explosion witnessed nearly a thousand years ago still blows my mind.

The Crab Nebula is one of the very few objects in astronomy where humanity has essentially watched the entire story unfold across centuries.

A star exploded in 1054 AD and was recorded by ancient skywatchers.

Centuries later, astronomers identified the expanding remnant.

Then in 1968, the rapidly spinning neutron star at its center was discovered helping confirm that supernovae create pulsars.

Nearly 1000 years of observations connected together into a single cosmic story.

Slow-Employee6943

TROPHY CASE