Supernova Portrait Gallery

Chandra_286_1024

chandra_286 September 20th, 1999

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

PSR 0540-69 is a neutron star, or pulsar, that is rotating very rapidly, making a complete rotation every one-twentieth of a second. It is similar in many ways to the famous Crab Nebula pulsar. Both objects are spinning rapidly, are about 1,000 years old and are surrounded by a large cloud of gas and high-energy particles. The surrounding cloud in both cases is powered by the conversion of rotational energy of the neutron star into high energy particles through the combined action of rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field. PSR 0540-69 is 160,000 light years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one the Milky Way's small satellite galaxies.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/snrg/

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
PSR 0540-69

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
160,000 light years
Chandra_286_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 5h 40m 9.9s
DEC = -69° 19’ 57.4”
Orientation
North is 0.5° CCW
Field of View
1.1 x 0.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Dorado

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (HRC) X-ray -
Chandra_286_1280
×
ID
286
Subject Category
Subject Name
PSR 0540-69
Credits
NASA/CXC/SAO
Release Date
1999-09-20
Lightyears
160,000
Redshift
160,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/snrg/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
HRC
Color Assignment
Red
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
85.0410438, -69.3326124
Reference Dimension
2100.0, 1736.0
Reference Pixel
1051.0, 869.0
Scale
8.45043e-06, 8.4504282e-06
Rotation
0.48
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
pulsarV2BBB.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/snrg/pulsarV2BBB.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2012-12-21
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
160,000 light years

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