Crab Pulsar, SN1054 Time-Lapse Movie with Sound The movie shows dynamic rings, wisps and jets of matter and antimatter around the pulsar in the Crab Nebula as observed in optical light. The movie was made from 24 observations made between August 2000 and April 2001. To produce a movie of reasonable length the sequence was looped several times, as in looped weather satellite images. Sound of the pulsar from the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics was added by Astronomy Nation. Credit: NASA/HST/ASU/J.Hester et al. • At the center of the Crab Nebula lies the Crab Pulsar – the collapsed core of the exploded star. The Crab Pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star – an object only about six miles across, but containing more mass than our Sun. As it rotates at a rate of 30 times per second the Crab Pulsar's powerful magnetic field sweeps around, accelerating particles, and whipping them out into the nebula at speeds close to that of light. This sequence uses Hubble Space Telescope images of the inner parts of the Crab. The pulsar itself is visible as the lower of the pair of stars near the center of the frame. Surrounding the pulsar is a complex of sharp knots and wisp-like features. This image is one of a sequence of Hubble images taken over the course of several months. This sequence shows that the inner part of the Crab Nebula is far more dynamic than previously understood. The Crab literally "changes it stripes" every few days as these wisps stream away from the pulsar at half the speed of light. Born in 1054 A.D. The Crab pulsar is the youngest known pulsar. It lies at the centre of the Crab Nebula, the supernova remnant of its birth explosion, which was witnessed by Europeans and Chinese in the year 1054 A.D. as a day-time light in the sky. The pulsar rotates about 30 times a second, however for most rotations no radio waves are detected. This recording has been made with the Lovell telescope in Jodrell Bank. Credit: NASA/HST/ASU/J.Hester et al.