Vela

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Object Details

Notes

Credit: NASA/CXC/Univ of Toronto/M.Durant et al; INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo/ S.Orlando & NASA/CXC/SAO/A.Jubett et al.

Description

The Vela Pulsar is the aftermath of a star that collapsed. The explosion sent a remarkable storm of particles and energy into space. The Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes captured this storm, seen here represented as a 3D model. At the center of Vela is what astronomers call a pulsar, a rapidly spinning dense star that sends beams of light out into space like a cosmic lighthouse. This pulsar, about 1,000 light-years from Earth, spins faster than a helicopter rotor and spews out a jet of particles at almost the speed of light

Data Source

Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Metadata Usage

CC0

Record ID

dpo_3d_230008