The Crab Nebula As Never Before Seen

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 (1054 AD). Having this definitive timeline helps astronomers understand the details of the explosion and its aftermath.

Next year marks the 20th 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.

In the case of the Crab Nebula, observers in several countries reported the appearance of a new star in 1054 AD in the direction of the constellation Taurus. Much has been learned about the Crab Nebula in the centuries since then.

Today, astronomers know that the Crab Nebula is powered by a quickly spinning, highly magnetized neutron star called a pulsar, which was formed when the massive star ran out of its nuclear fuel and collapsed. The combination of rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field in the Crab Nebula generates an intense electromagnetic field that creates jets of matter and anti-matter moving away from both the north and south poles of the pulsar, and an intense wind flowing out in the equatorial direction.







The latest image of the Crab Nebula is a composite with X-rays from Chandra (blue and white), NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (purple) and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (pink). The extent of the X-ray image is smaller than the others because extremely energetic electrons emitting X-rays radiate away their energy more quickly than the lower energy electrons emitting optical and infrared light.







This new composite image adds to a scientific legacy, spanning nearly two decades, between Chandra and the Crab Nebula.







NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.



For more information:

http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2018/crab/index.html

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