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
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
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