Crab Nebula size and scale context

The Crab Nebula is the expanding supernova remnant created by the stellar explosion recorded in 1054. Its tangled filaments are still being energized from within by the [Crab Pulsar](crab-pulsar), making the system one of astronomy’s clearest laboratories for watching a dead star reshape the space around it. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

NGC 7027Planetary nebula·1,890 billion km0.2 ly

Cat's Eye NebulaPlanetary nebula·3,800 billion km0.4 ly

Homunculus NebulaBipolar nebula·5,500 billion km0.58 ly

Ring NebulaPlanetary nebula·2.6 ly

Helix NebulaPlanetary nebula·5.6 ly

Crab NebulaSupernova remnant·11 ly

Orion NebulaEmission nebula·24 ly

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Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

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Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

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Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

Views

Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

Nebulae

Helix Nebula

The Helix Nebula is one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth, a glowing shell expelled by a dying Sun-like star. From Earth it can look like a simple doughnut, but the full structure is a layered remnant built from two nearly perpendicular gaseous disks and outflows.

Scale fact5.6 lydiameter

Object class: Planetary nebula
Host: Milky Way
Composition: Ionized gas, dust, cometary knots

Nebulae

Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula is the expanding supernova remnant created by the stellar explosion recorded in 1054. Its tangled filaments are still being energized from within by the Crab Pulsar, making the system one of astronomy’s clearest laboratories for watching a dead star reshape the space around it.

Scale fact11 lydiameter

Object class: Supernova remnant
Composition: Ionized gas and supernova ejecta
Estimated age: ~970 years
Host: Milky Way

Nebulae

Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula is one of the nearest great star factories in the Milky Way, close enough for astronomers to watch young suns emerge inside glowing gas and dust. Hubble’s discovery of dozens of protoplanetary disks here helped show that planet formation is common, not exotic.

Scale fact24 lydiameter

Object class: Emission nebula
Host: Milky Way
Composition: Ionized hydrogen, molecular gas, dust
Temperature: ~10,000 K ionized gas