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Crab Nebula

American

noun

Astronomy.

the remnant of a supernova explosion, observed in 1054 a.d., in the constellation Taurus.

Crab Nebula British

noun

the expanding remnant of the supernova observed in 1054 _ad , lying in the constellation Taurus at an approximate distance of 6500 light years

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Crab Nebula

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Crab Pulsar sits at the center of the Crab Nebula in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way, about 6,500 light-years from Earth.

From Science Daily • Mar. 28, 2026

The Crab Nebula features a neutron star at its center that has formed into a 12-mile-wide pulsar pinwheeling electromagnetic radiation across the cosmos.

From Science Daily • Nov. 18, 2024

Additional aspects of the inner workings of the Crab Nebula become more prominent and are seen in greater detail in the infrared light captured by Webb.

From Science Daily • Oct. 30, 2023

As its rotational energy is used to excite the Crab Nebula year after year, the pulsar inside the nebula slows down.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Seventh-grade Ron had a birthmark shaped like a crab, which made me think of the Crab Nebula.

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023