Young Pulsar Reveals Clues to Supernova

Chandra_169_1024

chandra_169 September 6th, 2001

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/S.Murray et al.

When astronomers used Chandra to observe the remains of a supernova believed to have been observed in 1181 AD, they discovered one of the youngest pulsars known. Embedded in a cloud of high-energy particles, the pulsar is rotating about 15 times a second and is slowing down at the rate of several microseconds per year. A comparison of the rate at which the pulsar is slowing down and its age indicates that the 3C58 pulsar is rotating just about as fast now as when it was formed. This is in contrast to the Crab pulsar, which was formed spinning much more rapidly and has slowed to about half its initial speed.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0022/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
3C58

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
10,000 light years
Chandra_169_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 2h 5m 37.9s
DEC = 64° 49’ 41.2”
Orientation
North is 37.0° CW
Field of View
0.5 x 0.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Cassiopeia

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor Chandra (HRC) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Pseudocolor
Chandra_169_1280
×
ID
169
Subject Category
Subject Name
3C58
Credits
NASA/CXC/SAO/S.Murray et al.
Release Date
2001-09-06
Lightyears
10,000
Redshift
10,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0022/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
HRC
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
1999-11-30T20:08:11
Integration Time
29097
Dataset ID
129
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
31.4079117, 64.8281129
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 1659.0
Reference Pixel
1201.0, 830.5
Scale
3.31293e-06, 3.3129252e-06
Rotation
-37.02
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
0022_xray.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0022/0022_xray.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2011-05-06T15:34:58-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
10,000 light years

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