NASA paid tribute to the late legendary musician Prince with a fitting cosmic image – a glowing purple nebula.
On April 21, 2016, the space agency tweeted a photo of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant around 6,500 light-years from Earth. The stunning portrait combines observations from NASA’s famed Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory.
“A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today,” NASA wrote.
The timing was appropriate – Prince, an iconic musician known for hits like “Purple Rain” and “When Doves Cry”, died that same day at age 57.
The Crab Purple Nebula
The Crab Nebula is the shattered remnant of a massive star that died in a supernova explosion. It was first observed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD. When the star ran out of fuel, its core collapsed and triggered a spectacular detonation – for a few days, it shined as bright as the full moon in the sky.
“Such stars burn incredibly brightly and die young, so NASA’s photo tribute seems doubly appropriate,” wrote Mike Wall.
Supernovas fuse elements like carbon, oxygen and iron – symbolic for how Prince fused different music styles into his iconic sound. The violent blast enriches the universe with these building blocks of life.
The remaining stellar core condenses into an incredibly dense neutron star. The billowing clouds of gas we see make up the nebula itself. The ghostly purple glow comes from radiation emitted by particles accelerated almost to the speed of light by the nebula’s magnetic field.
So the violent death of a massive star created this fitting cosmic tribute to another legend who left too soon. As Prince sang, “Life it ain’t real funky, unless it’s got that pop…”
Hubble’s Legacy
Prince is not the first icon memorialized by the Hubble Space Telescope. When astronaut John Glenn died in 2016, NASA posted Hubble’s stunning view of the stars to honor his impact on space exploration.
Hubble’s dreamy images have dazzled the world for over 30 years. Despite initial flaws after its launch in 1990, astronauts on several Space Shuttle missions fixed and upgraded Hubble.
Today, it remains NASA’s most scientifically productive instrument. Hubble has revolutionized astronomy by offering humanity’s clearest view yet of the universe.
As with Prince’s genre-busting music, Hubble’s imagery has inspired awe and wonder worldwide. Both legends made an indelible impact on their fields. And both proved there are always new creative frontiers to explore, if we dare reach for them.
The Crab Nebula is the shattered remnant of a massive star that died in a supernova explosion. It was first observed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD. When the star ran out of fuel, its core collapsed and triggered a spectacular detonation – for a few days, it shined as bright as the full moon in the sky.
