The Crab Nebula from Visible to X Ray

The Crab Nebula from Visible to X-Ray

Image Credit:
NASA,
ESA,
ASI,
Hubble,
Chandra,
IXPE

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.