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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
The Crab Nebula from Visible to X-Ray
Explanation: What powers the Crab Nebula? A city-sized magnetized neutron star spinning around 30 times a second. Known as the Crab Pulsar , it is the bright spot in the center of the gaseous swirl at the nebula's core. About 10 light-years across, the spectacular picture of the Crab Nebula (M1) frames a swirling central disk and complex filaments of surrounding and expanding glowing gas. The picture combines visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope in red and blue with X-ray light from the Chandra X-ray Observatory shown in white, and diffuse X-ray emission detected by Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) in diffuse purple. The central pulsar powers the Crab Nebula 's emission and expansion by slightly slowing its spin rate, which drives out a wind of energetic electrons . The featured image released today, the 25th Anniversary of the launch of NASA's flagship-class X-ray Observatory: Chandra .
Many Discoveries: Chandra Celebrates 25th Anniversary
| Date | July 23, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Image Credit: NASA , ESA , ASI , Hubble , Chandra , IXPE |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |