Crab Nebula's gamma-ray flare mystifies astronomers

BBC News ^ | 5/11/11 | Jason Palmer

[NormsRevenge]

[NormsRevenge]

NASA’s Fermi Spots ‘Superflares’ in the Crab Nebula
05.11.11

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/crab-flare.html

[PzLdr]

As opposed to the “Grouch” Nebula?

[doc1019]

We are doomed!

[NormsRevenge]

more pics at and from NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA’s Fermi Spots ‘Superflares’ in the Crab Nebula
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010767/

[Mariner]

It's a forming Black Hole.

In the early stages they emit enormous amounts of gamma rays in a very narrow beam. It just so happens this beam is pointed right at us.

Great opportunity for research.

E=MC2 remains true.

[rfp1234]

Crabs flaring? There must be an ointment for that.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Post-explosion gas cramps?

[Nachum]

Love this. Amazing stuff.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

... a rapidly spinning neutron star that emits radio waves which sweep past the Earth 30 times per second.

Is that a Universal Talk Show from the "others" out there?

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I love it too. The scope and size of stars, galaxies and the universe are amazing. When I was a little girl I used to get astronomy books at the library, and try to find the most extreme statistics. Betelgeuse was one of my favorites. It is humbling stuff.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

A book called The Stars by H. A. Rey, the fellow who wrote Curious George, is a great place to start. He drew recognizable pictures of the constellations and showed how to find them (and individual stars) in the night sky. There are also programs on the internet that show where to find what star and/or constellation.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

You’re welcome. My advice is worth about what you pay for it. :)

[calex59]

If you want a good program for finding stars and planets,”My Stars” is a great star chart program. Costs about 20 bucks and can be found on the Internet at http://www.relativedata.com/mystars. I tried to make a link but for some reason it kept telling me it couldn’t go there. However, that is the correct URL and will get you there if you cut and paste. I use my copy to find where the planets and stars are before I take my little 6 inch reflector out in the yard. You can get a free version but it doesn’t show everything as the registered one does.

[April Lexington]

We are doomed!

May 21st, my friend! Said so right on the side of the bus. Seen it myself!

[doc1019]

I guess I can forget about all my bills then.. The side of the bus does it for me.

[dragnet2]

CRAB Nebula-DSS-20x150s-flats-darks-exp50min

I shot this image of the the Crab, M-1 Nebula not to long ago from my backyard.

M1 is the remnant of a star that exploded as a supernova which was observed in ancient times around 1054, by the Chinese.