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Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Spinning Pulsar of the Crab Nebula
NASA ^ | 24 Aug, 2025 | Image Credit: NASA: X-ray: Chandra (CXC), Optical: Hubble (STScI), Infrared: Spitzer (JPL-Caltech)

Posted on 08/24/2025 2:39:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: At the core of the Crab Nebula lies a city-sized, magnetized neutron star spinning 30 times a second. Known as the Crab Pulsar, it is the bright spot in the center of the gaseous swirl at the nebula's core. About twelve light-years across, the spectacular picture frames the glowing gas, cavities and swirling filaments near the Crab Nebula's center. The featured picture combines visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope in purple, X-ray light from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in blue, and infrared light from the Spitzer Space Telescope in red. Like a cosmic dynamo, the Crab pulsar powers the emission from the nebula, driving a shock wave through surrounding material and accelerating the spiraling electrons. With more mass than the Sun and the density of an atomic nucleus,the spinning pulsar is the collapsed core of a massive star that exploded. The outer parts of the Crab Nebula are the expanding remnants of the star's component gases. The supernova explosion was witnessed on planet Earth in the year 1054.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 08/24/2025 2:39:05 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 08/24/2025 2:39:25 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

πŸͺ 🌟 🌌 πŸ”

3 posted on 08/24/2025 2:40:11 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Different!


4 posted on 08/24/2025 2:44:22 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: MtnClimber

Forces beyond human ken.


5 posted on 08/24/2025 2:46:18 PM PDT by HandyDandy (β€œBorders, language and culture.” Michael Savage)
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To: MtnClimber

The appearance of the supernova that created the Crab Nebula happened at the same time of the schism between Catholicism and Orthodoxy in mid-1054.

Strangely, nobody at the time seemed to link the two events.


6 posted on 08/24/2025 2:53:16 PM PDT by decal (They won't stop, so they'll have to be stopped)
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To: MtnClimber

Some of these stars have the strongest magnetic fields in the universe. If Earth was in orbit around one at the distance of the Moon the magnetism alone would be lethal.


7 posted on 08/24/2025 2:57:15 PM PDT by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
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To: MtnClimber

That is cool!


8 posted on 08/24/2025 3:42:40 PM PDT by GaltAdonis
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To: HandyDandy
Forces beyond human ken.

Agreed. Seeing images like this always reminds me just how puny human pretensions really are.

9 posted on 08/24/2025 4:12:36 PM PDT by AFB-XYZ (( We have two options: 1. Stand up, or 2. Bend over))
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To: MtnClimber

The more we know, the more we realize how much we don’t know.
Some real weird stuff out there.


10 posted on 08/24/2025 4:56:00 PM PDT by The Sentient Sheep
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To: BenLurkin
It is different! Kinda resembles a Hershey Kiss!


11 posted on 08/24/2025 5:54:54 PM PDT by Deaf and Discerning
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To: MtnClimber

1,800 RPM is impressive.


12 posted on 08/24/2025 6:24:59 PM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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