超新星大炮驱逐脉冲星J0002

2019 August 13

Supernova Cannon Expels Pulsar J0002
Image Credit: F. Schinzel et al. (NRAO, NSF), Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (DRAO), NASA (IRAS); Composition: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba)

Explanation: What could shoot out a neutron star like a cannon ball? A supernova. About 10,000 years ago, the supernova that created the nebular remnant CTB 1 not only destroyed a massive star but blasted its newly formed neutron star core — a pulsar — out into the Milky Way Galaxy. The pulsar, spinning 8.7 times a second, was discovered using downloadable software Einstein@Home searching through data taken by NASA’s orbiting Fermi Gamma-Ray Observatory. Traveling over 1,000 kilometers per second, the pulsar PSR J0002+6216 (J0002 for short) has already left the supernova remnant CTB 1, and is even fast enough to leave our Galaxy. Pictured, the trail of the pulsar is visible extending to the lower left of the supernova remnant. The featured image is a combination of radio images from the VLA and DRAO radio observatories, as well as data archived from NASA’s orbiting IRAS infrared observatory. It is well known that supernovas can act as cannons, and even that pulsars can act as cannonballs — what is not known is how supernovas do it.

超新星大炮驱逐脉冲星J0002

影像来源: F. Schinzel et al. (NRAO, NSF), Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (DRAO), NASA (IRAS); 图像组合: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba)

说明：什么天体能像炮弹一样射出中子星？是超新星。大约在1万年前，产生星云遗迹CTB 1的超新星不仅摧毁了大质量恒星，而且还将其新形成的中子星核-脉冲星-抛入银河系。脉冲星每秒旋转8.7次，是我们通过使用可下载的软件Einstein@Home、搜索美国宇航局绕轨道运行的费米伽马射线天文台所获取的数据发现的。脉冲星PSR J0002+6216（简称为J0002）以每秒1千公里的速度运行，它已经离开了超新星遗迹CTB 1，其速度足够快到可以离开我们的银河系。在这幅影像中，我们可以看到脉冲星余迹正在向超新星遗迹的左下方延伸。这幅特征影像是由甚大天线阵和DRAO射电天文台的射电影像以及美国宇航局绕轨道运行的IRAS红外天文台的存档数据结合而成。众所周知，超新星可以充当大炮，甚至脉冲星也可以充当炮弹，而我们并不清楚超新星是如何做到这一点的。