Has the Speediest Pulsar Been Found?

Chandra_515_1024

chandra_515 June 28th, 2012

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UC Berkeley/J.Tomsick et al & ESA/XMM-Newton, Optical: DSS; IR: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF

Using Chandra, XMM-Newton, and the Parkes radio telescope, researchers have found evidence for what may be the fastest moving pulsar ever seen. The large field of view contains XMM-Newton X-ray data (purple) that shows a supernova remnant, combined with infrared and optical data (colored red, green and blue that appears as white) showing stars. The Chandra image in bright green shown in the inset ("Chandra Close-up") reveals a comet-shaped X-ray source well outside the boundary of the supernova remnant. Astronomers think that this object is a pulsar that may be moving at about 6 million miles per hour, which would make it one of the fastest ever detected if confirmed.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2012/igrj11014/

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

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

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
IGR J11014-6103
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Neutron Star > Pulsar
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant

Distance

Universescale1
30,000 light years
Chandra_515_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 11h 3m 3.4s
DEC = -60° 54’ 27.5”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CW
Field of View
35.6 x 28.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Carina

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Purple XMM (MOS) X-ray (X-ray) -
Blue DSS (DSS2R) Optical (R-band) 660.0 nm
Green 2MASS (2MASS) Infrared (J-band) 1.2 µm
Red 2MASS (2MASS) Infrared (H-band) 1.7 µm
Spectrum_xray1w
Green
Blue
Green
Red
Chandra_515_1280
×
ID
515
Subject Category
B.3.1.9.1   B.4.1.4  
Subject Name
IGR J11014-6103
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/UC Berkeley/J.Tomsick et al & ESA/XMM-Newton, Optical: DSS; IR: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF
Release Date
2012-06-28
Lightyears
30,000
Redshift
30,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2012/igrj11014/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, XMM, DSS, 2MASS, 2MASS
Instrument
ACIS, MOS, DSS2R, 2MASS, 2MASS
Color Assignment
Green, Purple, Blue, Green, Red
Band
X-ray, X-ray, Optical, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
X-ray, X-ray, R-band, J-band, H-band
Central Wavelength
0.8267, -, 660, 1240, 1660
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
165.76404000000, -60.90764000000
Reference Dimension
3600.00, 2894.00
Reference Pixel
1616.69877054188, 1397.93624690197
Scale
-0.00016481129, 0.00016481129
Rotation
-0.12434032487
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.0 revision 213+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
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 Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
igrj11014.tif
Metadata Date
2012-08-22T16:20:32-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
30,000 light years

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