Crab Pulsar

Uncommon card · No. 183423

The Crab Pulsar (PSR B0531+21 or Baade's Star) is a relatively young neutron star. The star is the central star in the Crab Nebula, a remnant of the supernova SN 1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054. Discovered in 1968, the pulsar was the first to be connected with a supernova remnant. The Crab Pulsar is one of very few pulsars to be identified optically. It was initially discovered as a radio pulsar. The optical pulsar is roughly 20 kilometres (12 mi) in diameter and has a rotational period of 33.392 milliseconds, that is, the pulsar "beams" perform 29.946 revolutions per second. The outflowing relativistic wind from the neutron star generates synchrotron emission, which produces the bulk of the emission from the nebula, seen from radio waves through to gamma rays. The most dynamic feature in the inner part of the nebula is the point where the pulsar's equatorial wind slams into the surrounding nebula, forming a termination shock. The shape and position of this feature...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Optical: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al. X-Ray: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al., Public domain