Carnival of Space 509

1. Chandra X-ray space telescope
blog – Observatories Combine to Crack Open the Crab Nebula

Astronomers have produced a highly detailed image of the Crab Nebula, by combining data from telescopes spanning nearly the entire breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves seen by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to the powerful X-ray glow as seen by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory. And, in between, the Hubble Space Telescope’s crisp visible-light view and the infrared perspective of the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The Crab Nebula, the result of a bright supernova explosion seen by Chinese and other astronomers in the year 1054, is 6,500 light-years from Earth. At its center is a super-dense neutron star, rotating once every 33 milliseconds, shooting out rotating lighthouse-like beams of radio waves and light — a pulsar. The nebula’s intricate shape is caused by a complex interplay of the pulsar, a fast-moving wind of particles coming from the pulsar, and material originally ejected by the supernova explosion and by the star itself before the explosion.

This image combines data from five different telescopes: The VLA (radio) in red; Spitzer Space Telescope (infrared) in yellow; Hubble Space Telescope (visible) in green; XMM-Newton (ultraviolet) in blue; and Chandra X-ray Observatory (X-ray) in purple.

2. Chandra X-ray space telescope
blog – Astronomers Pursue Renegade Supermassive Black Hole

3. Universe Today – Asteroid Strikes on Mars Spun Out Supersonic Tornadoes that Scoured the Surface

4. Universe Today – Europa Lander Could Carry a Microphone and “Listen” to the Ice to Find Out What’s Underneath

5. Arts nova – an article on Image Processing and the Juno JunoCam

6. Universe Today – Rise of the Super Telescopes: Why We Build Them

7. Thoughtco – Exploring Climate Change from Earth Orbit

8. Planetaria – Grand Finale part 3: Cassini completes third ring dive, sees bright clouds on Titan

9. Planetaria – First science results from Juno show surprises in Jupiter’s atmosphere and interior