  Spectroscopy of the Crab nebula along different slit directions reveals the 3
dimensional structure of the optical nebula. On the basis of the linear radial
expansion result first discovered by Trimble (1968), we make a 3D model of the
optical emission. Results from a limited number of slit directions suggest that
optical lines originate from a complicated array of wisps that are located in a
rather thin shell, pierced by a jet. The jet is certainly not prominent in
optical emission lines, but the direction of the piercing is consistent with
the direction of the X-ray and radio jet. The shell's effective radius is ~ 79
seconds of arc, its thickness about a third of the radius and it is moving out
with an average velocity 1160 km/s.
