Chandra Release - July 22, 2024

Visual Description: Crab Nebula

This composite image features the remnant of a supernova explosion, which resembles a neon purple mushroom at the heart of a colorful web of veins and filaments. Known as the Crab Nebula, the heavily veined blue and red cloud of gas is set against the blackness of space. At the core of the nebula is a pulsar, a rotating neutron star emitting electromagnetic radiation. Here, the pulsar appears as a bright white dot sitting in a neon purple cloud. Surrounding the dot are white rings. These are created by particles driven away from the pulsar and colliding with gas in the nebula to produce X-rays. From this angle, the rings and purple cloud combine to resemble a mushroom cap. Completing the look of a mushroom is a thin mushroom stem emerging from the white dot. This is a narrow beam of particles blasting away from the pulsar.