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Ring discovered around Crab Nebula

Crab Nebula

Chandra's image(above), optical image(below).

A stunning image of the Crab Nebula, taken by NASA's space-based Chandra Observatory, has revealed a brilliant ring around its heart.

The image reveals, for the first time, the shape of the energy fields within the Crab Nebula. At the centre of the Nebula is a rapidly rotating neutron star - or pulsar - that is pumping enormous amounts of energy into the Nebula in the form of high-energy particles and magnetic fields.

Optical view of Crab Nebula"The inner ring is unique" said Professor Jeff Hester of Arizona State University. "It's like finding the transmission lines between the power plant and the light bulb. It should tell us a lot about how the energy from the pulsar gets into the Nebula."

Chandra's x-ray image provides significant clues to the workings of this mighty cosmic 'generator', which is producing energy at the rate of 100,000 suns. The image shows that the dramatic tilted rings, spanning the distance of a light year, appear to have been flung outward from the pulsar. Perpendicular to the rings, jet-like structures produced by high-energy particles blast away from the pulsar.

ChandraThe Nebula, which is about six light years across, is expanding outward at 4.8 million kilometres per hour. It's easily the most intensively studied object beyond our solar system, having first been observed in 1054 A.D. Using both radio and x-ray images, scientists can better understand these stellar objects - similar to having both a photograph of a person, and an x-ray of their insides.

The Chandra x-ray Observatory is the world's most powerful x-ray telescope. It has eight-times greater resolution and will be able to detect sources more than 20-times fainter than any previous x-ray telescope.

Tags: astronomy-space