Prince honoured by Nasa with stunning purple nebula photo

The crab nebula is shaped by the death of a huge star – a supernova that burnt bright and then died young

The nebula is what is left after a huge star burnt bright and then died out

(ESA/Herschel/PACS/MESS Key Programme Supernova Remnant Team; NASA, ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University))

Nasa has paid tribute to prince by sending out a beautiful space image lit up in the singer’s characteristic purple.

The agency tweeted out a stunning picture of the Crab Nebula, lit up in purple, in tribute to the singer.

Prince died at just 57 in his Paisley Park recording studio this week. Tributes have come from across the world of music and the arts, celebrating a singer and musician who was among the best-selling artists of all time.

Nasa’s tribute was posted alongside a message reading “A purple nebula, in honour of prince, who passed away today”. The message received tens of thousands of retweets, becoming probably the most shared of the tributes paid to the singer after his death.

The picture is an image of the Crab Nebula, made up by combining images from Nasa’s own Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory.

The Crab Nebula is about 6,500 light-years. Its structure is fittingly shaped around a supernova remnant – a bright star that died out, burning bright and fast before it did.