Webb taking a look at a celestial icon. The Crab Nebula.
source: The Crab Nebula Seen in New Light by NASA’s Webb - NASA
A supernova remnant, 6,500 LY away from us, this thing was first observed by the Chinese ~1,000 years ago. They could see it in daylight it was so bright for a time (for 23 days after it suddenly appeared in 1054 A.D.).
Hubble (in visible light) and the left, and Webb in IR on the right. Lotta heavy elements in that cloud, too (see #620 above).
"At first glance, the general shape of the supernova remnant is similar to the optical wavelength image released in 2005 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope:
In Webb’s infrared observation, a crisp, cage-like structure of fluffy gaseous filaments are shown in red-orange. However, in the central regions, emission from dust grains (yellow-white and green) is mapped out by Webb for the first time.
Additional aspects of the inner workings of the Crab Nebula become more prominent and are seen in greater detail in the infrared light captured by Webb.
In particular, Webb highlights what is known as synchrotron radiation: emission produced from charged particles, like electrons, moving around magnetic field lines at relativistic speeds. The radiation appears here as milky smoke-like material throughout the majority of the Crab Nebula’s interior.
This feature is a product of the nebula’s pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star. The pulsar’s strong magnetic field accelerates particles to extremely high speeds and causes them to emit radiation as they wind around magnetic field lines.
Though emitted across the electromagnetic spectrum, the synchrotron radiation is seen in unprecedented detail with Webb’s NIRCam instrument."
source: The Crab Nebula Seen in New Light by NASA’s Webb - NASA
A supernova remnant, 6,500 LY away from us, this thing was first observed by the Chinese ~1,000 years ago. They could see it in daylight it was so bright for a time (for 23 days after it suddenly appeared in 1054 A.D.).
Hubble (in visible light) and the left, and Webb in IR on the right. Lotta heavy elements in that cloud, too (see #620 above).
"At first glance, the general shape of the supernova remnant is similar to the optical wavelength image released in 2005 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope:
In Webb’s infrared observation, a crisp, cage-like structure of fluffy gaseous filaments are shown in red-orange. However, in the central regions, emission from dust grains (yellow-white and green) is mapped out by Webb for the first time.
Additional aspects of the inner workings of the Crab Nebula become more prominent and are seen in greater detail in the infrared light captured by Webb.
In particular, Webb highlights what is known as synchrotron radiation: emission produced from charged particles, like electrons, moving around magnetic field lines at relativistic speeds. The radiation appears here as milky smoke-like material throughout the majority of the Crab Nebula’s interior.
This feature is a product of the nebula’s pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star. The pulsar’s strong magnetic field accelerates particles to extremely high speeds and causes them to emit radiation as they wind around magnetic field lines.
Though emitted across the electromagnetic spectrum, the synchrotron radiation is seen in unprecedented detail with Webb’s NIRCam instrument."
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