The eerie glow of a dead star, which exploded long ago as a supernova,
reveals itself in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the Crab
Nebula. But don't be fooled. The ghoulish-looking object still has a
pulse. Buried at its center is the star's tell-tale heart, which beats
with rhythmic precision.
Astronomers discovered a real "tell-tale heart" in
space, 6,500 light-years from Earth. The "heart" is the crushed core of a
long-dead star, called a neutron star, which exploded as a supernova
and is now still beating with rhythmic precision. Evidence of its
heartbeat are rapid-fire, lighthouse-like pulses of energy from the
fast-spinning neutron star. The stellar relic is embedded in the center
of the Crab Nebula, the expanding, tattered remains of the doomed star. Credits: NASA and ESA, Acknowledgment: M. Weisskopf/Marshall Space Flight Center
This time-lapse movie of the Crab Nebula, made from
NASA Hubble Space Telescope observations, reveals wave-like structures
expanding outward from the "heart" of an exploded star. The waves look
like ripples in a pond. The heart is the crushed core of the exploded
star, or supernova. Called a neutron star, it has about the same mass as
the sun but is squeezed into an ultra-dense sphere that is only a few
miles across and 100 billion times stronger than steel. This surviving
relic is a tremendous dynamo, spinning 30 times a second. The rapidly
spinning neutron star is visible in the image as the bright object just
below center. The bright object to the left of the neutron star is a
foreground or background star. The movie is assembled from 10 Hubble
exposures taken between September and November 2005 by the Advanced
Camera for Surveys. Credits: NASA and ESA, Acknowledgment: J. Hester (Arizona State University)
The "heart" is the crushed core of the exploded star. Called a neutron star, it has about the same mass as the sun but is squeezed into an ultra-dense sphere that is only a few miles across and 100 billion times stronger than steel. The tiny powerhouse is the bright star-like object near the center of the image.
This surviving remnant is a tremendous dynamo, spinning 30 times a
second. The wildly whirling object produces a deadly magnetic field that
generates an electrifying 1 trillion volts. This energetic activity
unleashes wisp-like waves that form an expanding ring, most easily seen
to the upper right of the pulsar.
The nebula's hot gas glows in radiation across the electromagnetic
spectrum, from radio to X-rays. The Hubble exposures were taken in
visible light as black-and-white exposures. The Advanced Camera for
Surveys made the observations between January and September 2012. The
green hue has been added to give the image a Halloween theme.
The Crab Nebula is one of the most historic and intensively studied supernova remnants. Observations of the nebula date back to 1054 A.D., when Chinese astronomers first recorded seeing a "guest star" during the daytime for 23 days. The star appeared six times brighter than Venus. Japanese, Arabic, and Native American stargazers also recorded seeing the mystery star. In 1758, while searching for a comet, French astronomer Charles Messier discovered a hazy nebula near the location of the long-vanished supernova. He later added the nebula to his celestial catalog as "Messier 1," marking it as a "fake comet." Nearly a century later British astronomer William Parsons sketched the nebula. Its resemblance to a crustacean led to M1's other name, the Crab Nebula. In 1928 astronomer Edwin Hubble first proposed associating the Crab Nebula to the Chinese "guest star" of 1054.
The nebula, bright enough to be visible in amateur telescopes, is located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
Villard@stsci.edu
410-338-4514
Editor: Karl Hille
The Crab Nebula is one of the most historic and intensively studied supernova remnants. Observations of the nebula date back to 1054 A.D., when Chinese astronomers first recorded seeing a "guest star" during the daytime for 23 days. The star appeared six times brighter than Venus. Japanese, Arabic, and Native American stargazers also recorded seeing the mystery star. In 1758, while searching for a comet, French astronomer Charles Messier discovered a hazy nebula near the location of the long-vanished supernova. He later added the nebula to his celestial catalog as "Messier 1," marking it as a "fake comet." Nearly a century later British astronomer William Parsons sketched the nebula. Its resemblance to a crustacean led to M1's other name, the Crab Nebula. In 1928 astronomer Edwin Hubble first proposed associating the Crab Nebula to the Chinese "guest star" of 1054.
The nebula, bright enough to be visible in amateur telescopes, is located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
Villard@stsci.edu
410-338-4514
Editor: Karl Hille
Source: NASA/Solar System and Beyond
