'You're seeing something that no one has ever seen before.”
has captured an unprecedented view of a historic nebula. The Crab Nebula, which is located about 6,500 light-years away in the Taurus constellation, was first observed by Chinese astronomers in the year 1054 AD. The IXPE captured images of the“What makes science so beautiful and exciting is that for those few moments, you're seeing something that no one has ever seen before,” said Weisskopf, now an emeritus astronomer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The IXPE observations of the Crab Nebula will help astronomers better understand the physics of supernova remnants and the processes that produce the high-energy particles that are detected in cosmic rays. The spacecraft will also study other celestial objects, such as black holes and neutron stars, to learn more about their magnetic fields and how they interact with matter and radiation in their surroundings., which is also donut-shaped.
The IXPE's observations of the Crab Nebula provide new insights into one of the most famous astronomical objects in the sky. The spacecraft's advanced technology has allowed astronomers to study the nebula in unprecedented detail, revealing new information about its magnetic fields and the processes that produce the high-energy particles that are detected in cosmic rays.
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