                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2024 July 23
     A multi-colored nebula is shown that is the expanding remnant of an
    exploded star. The central white and purple colors show X-ray light,
   while the outer red and blue colors show visible light. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                    The Crab Nebula from Visible to X-Ray
             Image Credit: NASA, ESA, ASI, Hubble, Chandra, IXPE

   Explanation: What powers the Crab Nebula? A city-sized magnetized
   neutron star spinning around 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 10 light-years across, the spectacular picture of
   the Crab Nebula (M1) frames a swirling central disk and complex
   filaments of surrounding and expanding glowing gas. The picture
   combines visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope in red and blue
   with X-ray light from the Chandra X-ray Observatory shown in white, and
   diffuse X-ray emission detected by Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer
   (IXPE) in diffuse purple. The central pulsar powers the Crab Nebula's
   emission and expansion by slightly slowing its spin rate, which drives
   out a wind of energetic electrons. The featured image released today,
   the 25th Anniversary of the launch of NASA's flagship-class X-ray
   Observatory: Chandra.

            Many Discoveries: Chandra Celebrates 25th Anniversary
                       Tomorrow's picture: spikey moon
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

