Space Movie Reveals Shocking Secrets of the Crab Pulsar
Just when it seemed like the summer movie season had ended, two of NASA's Great Observatories have produced their own action movie. Multiple observations made over several months with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope captured the spectacle of matter and antimatter propelled to near the speed of light by the Crab pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star the size of Manhattan.
Credit:NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al., HST/ASU/J. Hester et al.
About the Image
NASA press release
| Id: | opo0224a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 19 September 2002, 19:00 |
| Size: | 2400 x 2400 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Crab Pulsar |
| Type: | Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star : Pulsar |
| Distance: | 6000 light years |
| Constellation: | Taurus |
| Category: | Stars |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 5 34 31.61 |
| Position (Dec): | 22° 0' 57.87" |
| Field of view: | 2.15 x 2.15 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 0.1° right of vertical |
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Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
|---|---|
| X-ray |
Chandra
ACIS |
| Optical |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |