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What it is : The Crab Nebula ( also call M1 ) , a supernova end
Where it is:6,500 light - years away in the constellation Taurus
The Crab Nebula, as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory
When it was shared : June 3 , 2024
Why it ’s so special : This Modern composite range of a function combines data from both theJames Webb Space Telescope(JWST ) and the Chandra X - ray Observatory to reveal more about the dull neutron star at the center of one of the brightest supernova remnant in the night sky .
The Crab Nebula is what ’s left of a bright star . In A.D. 1054 , viewers on Earth concisely saw this star in the night sky as it explode at the end of its life — an event visit a supernova . The unexpected " guest ace " beguile lotus-eater ' attention around the existence and may have been draw ona rarified tangled coinas well as by Puebloan people in a " supernova pictograph " at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico , concord to researchers at theHigh Altitude Observatory . The supernova bequeath behind a dense neutron whiz surrounded by a nebula of flatulency .
Related : James Webb telescope sees ' birth ' of 3 of the universe ’s former galaxies in world-1st observations
JWST recently visualize the Crab Nebula , but the later data from Chandra establish that the nebula ’s neutron star — the leftovers of the x - star ’s essence — is dramatically transfer over meter . The neutron adept inside the Crab Nebula is what astronomers call a pulsar because it rotates around 30 times per second , sending out a beam of radiation on every rotation , a spot like a lighthouse . Chandra captured double observations of that actinotherapy — enough to show that the neutron star ’s DOE has produced a shockwave .
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This high - speed confidential information of matter and antimatter molecule is moving through the vast nebula , which measures 11 light - geezerhood across , according toNASA . That shockwave is the ring you see in the range , while jets of X - re - let loose particles coming from the pulsar ’s celestial pole are also visible .
Chandra ’s datum has also been used to createa clip - lapsing movie of the Crab Nebula ’s band and X - ray jet . Collected over 22 years until 2022 , the information reveals the X - beam jet ’s lash - corresponding movement . uranologist are not cease here . They plan to gather more data on the pulsar later this year , hoping to uncover further change .
