April 10, 2023
California
Scientists have created a detailed, nuanced map of the Crab Nebula using NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), revealing more about its donut-shaped magnetic field's inner workings than ever before.
The Crab Nebula, located approximately 6,500 light-years from Earth, is a well-studied cosmic object that resulted from a supernova that occurred in 1054. The massive star's explosion created a dense object known as the Crab Pulsar. The pulsar, which has the mass of about two suns, emits gases, shock waves, magnetic fields, and high-energy light and particles, creating a bizarre environment that is still being studied.
"The Crab is one of the sky's most studied high-energy astrophysical objects." "It's extremely exciting that we might learn something new about this system by looking through IXPE's polarised lenses," said Michela Negro, a co-author of the study and a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre affiliated with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
While the magnetic field of the Crab Nebula is similar to that of the Vela Pulsar Wind Nebula, the magnetic field turbulence in Crab was found to be more patchy and asymmetrical than expected, which surprised scientists.
Weisskopf, now an emeritus astronomer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and his colleagues measured X-ray polarisation from the Crab Nebula in the 1970s to better understand its extreme environment, and discovered that the Crab has an average polarisation of about 20%.
The polarisation measurements made by IXPE across the entire nebula were roughly the same as those made by Weisskopf and colleagues. The advanced capabilities of IXPE, on the other hand, allowed for a more precise determination of polarisation angles and the study of variations in polarisation throughout the nebula. According to the IXPE data, the outer parts of the nebula had much higher levels of polarisation than the areas closer to the pulsar, which had lower levels of polarisation.
The findings suggest that the X-rays in the Crab Nebula are generated by the outer magnetic field region known as the "wind." However, the precise location and mechanism of this process are unknown.
Nebula's nuances
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) April 9, 2023
A supernova documented in 1054 created the Crab Nebula. A new look reveals more of the inner workings amid the chaos of gases, shock waves, magnetic fields and high-energy light and particles coming from the rotating pulsar. https://t.co/bR9tf95WUL pic.twitter.com/33UsVy3u6V
.webp)
.jpeg)
If you have any doubts, please let me know