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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Крабовидная туманность http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1217142/eng |
Credit & Copyright: NASA -
X-ray: CXC,
J.Hester (ASU) et al.;
Optical: ESA, J.Hester and A.Loll (ASU); Infrared: JPL-Caltech, R.Gehrz (U. Minn)
Explanation:
The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on
Charles
Messier's famous list of things which are not comets.
In fact,
the
Crab is now known to be a
supernova remnant,
expanding debris from the death explosion of a massive star.
This intriguing
false-color image combines
data from space-based observatories,
Chandra,
Hubble, and
Spitzer,
to explore the
cosmic debris cloud in x-rays (blue-purple),
optical (green), and infrared (red) light.
One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers,
the Crab Pulsar,
a neutron star spinning 30 times a second,
is the bright spot near picture center.
Like a cosmic dynamo,
this collapsed remnant of the stellar core
powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is
6,500 light-years away in the
constellation
Taurus.
Optical: ESA, J.Hester and A.Loll (ASU); Infrared: JPL-Caltech, R.Gehrz (U. Minn)
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.