About Crab Nebula
Crab Nebula is an uncommon nebula. It sits in the constellation Tau and shines at apparent magnitude 8.4.
Clouds of gas and dust light-years across, where new stars are forged.
Uncommon nebula 28 EP
Crab Nebula
RA 83.6332° · Dec 22.0145° · openngc
Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 33 pts → Rare
- Messier object +12
- Nebula +8
- Has a proper name +8
Total score 28
5 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Nebula · +8
- Messier object · +12
- Has a proper name · +8
Trivia
How we found it
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Cosmic context
- Stellar nursery. Clouds of gas and dust light-years across, where new stars are forged.
Properties
- constellation
- Tau
- dso type
- SNR
- mag
- 8.4
- messier
- yes
- messier number
- 001
- name
- Crab Nebula
- named
- yes
How to see it
Look for Crab Nebula in the constellation Tau. At apparent magnitude 8.4, it is an easy target for binoculars.
Like any astronomical target, Crab Nebula is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why Crab Nebula is an uncommon nebula
Crab Nebula scores 28 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Nebula, Messier object and Has a proper name — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.