2025年8月24日
The Spinning Pulsar of the Crab Nebula
Image Credit: NASA: X-ray: Chandra (CXC), Optical: Hubble (STScI), Infrared: Spitzer (JPL-Caltech)
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.
Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)
Tomorrow’s picture: stellar surprise
蟹状星云的旋转脉冲星
影像提供: NASA: X射线: Chandra (CXC), 可见光: Hubble (STScI), 红外光: Spitzer (JPL-Caltech)
说明: 在蟹状星云的核心，存在一颗每秒自转30次大约城市大小的磁化中子星。这颗被称为蟹状星云脉冲星的天体，是位于星云核心气体漩涡中心的亮点。蟹状星云约有12光年宽，壮观的影像含括了星云中心附近的发光气体、空洞区和旋转的细丝。这张主题影像结合了来自哈勃太空望远镜的可见光（紫色）、来自钱德拉X射线望远镜的X射线（蓝色），以及来自斯皮策太空望远镜的红外光（红色）。如同宇宙发电机，蟹状星云脉冲星为星云的辐射提供动力，驱动冲击波穿越周围的物质，并加速旋转的电子。这颗自转的脉冲星质量超过太阳，密度和原子核相当，是一颗爆炸后巨大恒星塌缩的核心。蟹状星云的外部是这颗恒星组成气体不断膨胀的扩张残骸。这场超新星爆炸在1054年被地球上的人类目击。
天空惊喜: 你生日那天APOD刊登了什么照片？（1995年之后）
明日的图片: stellar surprise
