2003A&A...405..747B

A model of an accelerated expansion of the Crab Nebula powered by the spinning-down Crab pulsar is proposed, in which time dependence of the acceleration is connected to the evolution of pulsar luminosity. Using recent observational data, we derive estimates of the Crab neutron-star moment of inertia. Correlations between the neutron star moment of inertia and its mass and radius allow for rough estimates of the Crab neutron-star radius and mass. In contrast to the previously used constant-acceleration approximation, even for the expanding nebula mass of ∼7M_☉ the results obtained within our model are not in conflict with the modern stiff equations of state of dense matter.