<p>The crab nebula is more than 6000 light years away. Its progenitor was probably towards the lower end of stars that go supernova. And according to the <a href="https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/luminosity" rel="nofollow noreferrer">luminoisity calculator</a> had a magnitude of about 8.  This means that the progenitor was not visible to the naked eye.</p>
<p>As only the brighter naked eye stars have ever been named, and this star was not seen before it exploded, it had no name in any culture.</p>
<p>The star was probably about 8-10 solar masses. Prior to supernova it is assumed to have been a red giant.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-14T23:29:45.393Z
Thanks for reply
user38101
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-15T23:48:57.257Z
"The star was probably about 8-10 solar masses" Source? In SE each answer stands on its supporting sources, otherwise there's no way to know if it's right or wrong. Without this anybody can start posting any random unsupported answer and mayhem ensues. *Thanks!*
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T00:12:08.827Z
The luminosity calculator says we should start by entering some numbers, but it's unclear how it's been used to obtain this answer and so impossible to verify the calculation. What numbers were entered? What results were obtained?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-14T23:14:53.690Z
2021-02-22T16:48:30.097Z
2021-02-22T16:48:30.097Z
James K
<p>The supernova of this star was witnessed about 1 thousand years ago, and the star's remains are the Crab Nebula and Crab Pulsar. What is this no longer existent star called? How massive was this star? What was the star like before the supernova?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-22T23:01:51.063Z
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula#Progenitor_star
Keith McClary
<star><supernova><neutron-star><nebula><naming>
The star that died and became the Crab Nebula and Crab Pulsar?
user38101
# The star that died and became the Crab Nebula and Crab Pulsar?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-14)

The supernova of this star was witnessed about 1 thousand years ago, and the star's remains are the Crab Nebula and Crab Pulsar. What is this no longer existent star called? How massive was this star? What was the star like before the supernova?

**Tags:** star, supernova, neutron-star, nebula, naming
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Nebula#Progenitor_star  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-02-14. Score: 3

The crab nebula is more than 6000 light years away. Its progenitor was probably towards the lower end of stars that go supernova. And according to the [luminoisity calculator](https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/luminosity) had a magnitude of about 8. This means that the progenitor was not visible to the naked eye.

As only the brighter naked eye stars have ever been named, and this star was not seen before it exploded, it had no name in any culture.

The star was probably about 8-10 solar masses. Prior to supernova it is assumed to have been a red giant.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for reply  
> **username_3**: "The star was probably about 8-10 solar masses" Source? In SE each answer stands on its supporting sources, otherwise there's no way to know if it's right or wrong. Without this anybody can start posting any random unsupported answer and mayhem ensues. *Thanks!*  
> **username_3**: The luminosity calculator says we should start by entering some numbers, but it's unclear how it's been used to obtain this answer and so impossible to verify the calculation. What numbers were entered? What results were obtained?  

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