蟹状星云: 可见光到X射线波段

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.

Many Discoveries: Chandra Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Tomorrow’s picture: spikey moon

蟹状星云: 可见光到X射线波段
影像提供: NASA, ESA, ASI, Hubble, Chandra, IXPE

说明: 蟹状星云的动力源是什么？一颗城市大小、每秒约自转30圈的磁化中子星。在这团气态涡旋里，这颗称为蟹状星云脉冲星/波霎的中子星是其核心处的亮斑。这幅跨幅10光年的壮丽蟹状星云（M1）影像，呈现了涡状的中心盘和周围扩张的复杂发光丝状气体。这幅影像整合了哈勃太空望远镜可见光（红及蓝）、钱德拉X射线天文台 X射线（白），及成像X射线偏振探测器IXPE的X射线（弥漫紫色）等数据。此星云核心的脉冲星透过略微降低其自转速度，来提供蟹状星云发出辐射和扩张所需要的能量，而此过程也会驱动高能量的电子风。今天发布的这幅主题影像，用以庆祝美国国家航空航天局旗舰级的钱德拉X射线天文台发射的第25周年。