Images by Date
Images by Category
Solar System
Stars
Exoplanets
White Dwarfs
Supernovas
Neutron Stars
Black Holes
Milky Way Galaxy
Normal Galaxies
Quasars
Galaxy Clusters
Cosmology/Deep Field
Miscellaneous
Images by Interest
Space Scoop for Kids
4K JPG
Multiwavelength
Sky Map
Constellations
Photo Blog
Top Rated Images
Image Handouts
Desktops
Fits Files
Visual descriptions
Image Tutorials
Photo Album Tutorial
False Color
Cosmic Distance
Look-Back Time
Scale & Distance
Angular Measurement
Images & Processing
AVM/Metadata
Image Use Policy
Web Shortcuts
Chandra Blog
RSS Feed
Chronicle
Email Newsletter
News & Noteworthy
Image Use Policy
Questions & Answers
Glossary of Terms
Download Guide
Get Adobe Reader
Kes 75: One Weird Star Starts Acting Like Another
Kes 75


This deep Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows the supernova remnant Kes 75, located almost 20,000 light years away. The explosion of a massive star created the supernova remnant, along with a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star.

The low energy X-rays are colored red in this image and the high energy X-rays are colored blue. The pulsar is the bright spot near the center of the image. The rapid rotation and strong magnetic field of the pulsar have generated a wind of energetic matter and antimatter particles that rush out at near the speed of light. This pulsar wind has created a large, magnetized bubble of high-energy particles called a pulsar wind nebulae, seen as the blue region surrounding the pulsar.

The magnetic field of the pulsar in Kes 75 is thought to be more powerful than most pulsars, but less powerful than magnetars, a class of neutron star with the most powerful magnetic fields known in the Universe. Scientists are seeking to understand the relationship between these two classes of object.

Using NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), Fotis Gavriil of Goddard Space Flight Center, and colleagues discovered powerful bursts of X-rays from this pulsar that are similar to bursts previously seen from magnetars. These bursts are believed to occur when the surface of the neutron star is disrupted by sudden changes in the magnetic field. These bursts were accompanied by magnetar-like changes in the rate of spin of the pulsar. Fortuitously, Chandra observed the pulsar near the time of the bursts and it was much brighter than it had been in Chandra observations obtained six years earlier. This brightening, and changes in the X-ray spectrum of the pulsar obtained with Chandra are also consistent with behavior expected for a magnetar. The behavior of this object may, therefore, fill a gap between that of pulsars and magnetars.

Harsha Sanjeev Kumar and Samar Safi-Harb of the University of Manitoba have independently used Chandra observations to argue that the pulsar in Kes 75 is revealing itself as a magnetar.

Fast Facts for Kes 75:
Credit  NASA/CXC/GSFC/F.P.Gavriil et al.
Release Date  February 21, 2008
Scale  Image is 4.5 arcmin across.
Category  Supernovas & Supernova Remnants
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 18h 46m 25.0s | Dec -02° 58' 30.3"
Constellation  Aquila
Observation Date  4 pointings between 05/06/2006 - 12/06/2006
Observation Time  44 hours
Obs. ID  6686, 7337, 7338, 7339
Instrument  ACIS
References Gavriil, F.P. et al., 2008 Science, accepted
Color Code  Energy (Red/green: low; Blue: high)
X-ray
Distance Estimate  About 19,000 light years
distance arrow
Visitor Comments (0)
Rate This Image

Rating: 3.8/5
(485 votes cast)
Download & Share

More Images
Chandra X-ray Image of
Pulsar in Kes 75
Jpg, Tif
Illustration

More Images
More Releases
Kes 75
Kes 75
(18 Oct 18)

Related Images
Related Information
Related Podcast
Top Rated Images
Brightest Cluster Galaxies

Timelapses: Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A

Data Sonification




FaceBookTwitterYouTubeFlickr