New Chandra Images Released
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Right: Chandra's image of supernova remnant G21.5-0.9. At both radio and x-ray wavelengths, this relic of a supernova blast appears as a round patch in the sky. Detailed observations with radio telescopes confirm that the radio waves are produced by high energy electrons spiraling around magnetic field lines (synchrotron radiation). The x-rays are probably produced by the same process, but the electrons involved have energies many thousands times higher than those that produce the radio waves. [more]
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Inside the inner nebula is a bright central source that is thought to be a rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron star. A rotating neutron star acts like a powerful generator, creating intense electric voltages that accelerate electrons to speeds close to the velocity of light. The total output of this generator is greater than a thousand suns. The fluffy appearance of the central nebula is thought to be due to magnetic field lines which constrain the motions of the high energy electrons.
"It's a remarkable image," said Dr. Patrick Slane of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. "Neither the inner core nor the outer shell has ever been seen before."
"It is as though we have a set of Russian dolls, with structures embedded within structures," said Professor Gordon Garmire of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa., and principal investigator of Chandra's Charge-Coupled Device X-ray camera, used to make the image.
NASA's project scientist, Dr. Martin Weisskopf of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said, "Chandra's capability to provide surprises and insights continues!"
Left: The bright spot in this new image from Chandra is the neutron star PSR 0540-69. This pulsar rotates very rapidly, making a complete rotation every one-twentieth of a second. It is similar in many ways to the famous Crab Nebula pulsar. [more info]
A previously known pulsar is observed directly in the Chandra image of PSR 0540-69. This pulsar, located in a 180,000 light-year-distant satellite galaxy to our Milky Way, emits pulses of radio, optical and X -ray energy at a rate of 50 per second. These pulses, which come from a neutron star rotating at this incredible rate, comprise only a few percent of the total energy output of the neutron star powerhouse.
"The Chandra image gives us a much better idea of how this energy source works," said Dr. Stephen Murray, principal investigator for the High Resolution Camera, the X-ray camera used to make this image. "You can see X-ray jets blasting out from the pulsar in both directions."
Right: E0102-72 is a supernova remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This galaxy is 190,000 light years from Earth. E0102 -72, which is several thousand years old, is believed to have resulted from the explosion of a massive star. Stretching across forty light years of space, the multi-million degree source resembles a flaming cosmic wheel.
"Chandra's gallery of supernova remnants is giving us a lot to think about," said Dr. Fred Seward of Harvard-Smithsonian, who, with his colleagues, discovered E0102-72 and PSR 0540-69 by using a Chandra predecessor, NASA’s Einstein Observatory, over a decade ago. "We're seeing many things we thought should be there, and many others that we never expected. It's great!"
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NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass., manages the Chandra science program and controls the observatory for NASA. TRW Space and Electronics Group of Redondo Beach, Calif., leads the contractor team that built Chandra.
Chandra peers into the Large Magellanic Cloud -- The X-ray Observatory's High Resolution Camera catches extraordinary pictures of a distant supernova remnant. September 13, 1999
NASA Unveils First Light Images from Chandra -- The newest Great Observatory is making an immediate impact with spectacular new views of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant and a distant quasar. August 26, 1999
Studying the Titanium Star -- When the Chandra X-ray Observatory took its "first light" image, it wasn't looking at just another star shining in the darkness. It was watching a foundry distribute its wares to the rest of the galaxy. August 26, 1999
Why Launch Chandra at Night? -- Chandra's beautiful early morning launch will place it into an orbit unlike that of NASA's other Great Observatories, July 23, 1999
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