The Swirling Core of the Crab Nebula
Credit & Copyright: NASA,
ESA -
Acknowledgment:
J. Hester (ASU),
M. Weisskopf (NASA /
GSFC)
Explanation:
At the core of the
Crab Nebula lies a city-sized, magnetized
neutron star spinning 30 times a second.
Known as the Crab Pulsar, it's actually the rightmost of two bright
stars, just below a central swirl in this
stunning Hubble snapshot of the nebula's core.
Some three light-years across, the spectacular picture frames
the glowing gas, cavities and swirling filaments bathed in
an eerie blue light.
The blue glow is visible radiation given off by electrons spiraling in a
strong magnetic field at nearly the speed of light.
Like a
cosmic
dynamo the
pulsar powers the
emission from the nebula, driving a shock wave through surrounding
material and accelerating the spiraling electrons.
With more mass than
the Sun
and the density of an
atomic nucleus,
the spinning pulsar is the collapsed core of a massive star
that exploded.
The Crab Nebula is the expanding remnant of the star's outer layers.
The supernova explosion was witnessed on planet Earth in
the year 1054.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
