A Crab Walks Through Time

[Waspie_Dwarf]

A Crab Walks Through Time

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Next year marks the 20^th anniversary of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory launch into space. The Crab Nebula was one of the first objects that Chandra examined with its sharp X-ray vision, and it has been a frequent target of the telescope ever since.

There are many reasons that the Crab Nebula is such a well-studied object. For example, it is one of a handful of cases where there is strong historical evidence for when the star exploded. Having this definitive timeline helps astronomers understand the details of the explosion and its aftermath.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Crab Nebula in ultraviolet

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The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant some 6500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Taurus. At the centre of the nebula is a pulsar – the remnant of a star that exploded to form the nebula. The pulsar rotates around 30 times a second, sweeping a beam of radio waves across the Galaxy. Some of the material surrounding the pulsar was ejected before the star exploded, and the rest was expelled during the supernova. The wind from the pulsar escapes at high speed, creating a dynamic structure by interacting with the ejected material.

  Read More: ESA