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The cloud around it is a pulsar wind nebula, which is formed and maintained by an outflow of particles streaming away from the neutron star. A version of the animation is available without the pulsar.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 521457, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1203868, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020400/a020413/SN_HQ_Full_nopulsar_V001.mov", "filename": "SN_HQ_Full_nopulsar_V001.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "This animation shows a supernova — the explosion of a massive star — and the formation of an expanding cloud of debris called a supernova remnant. As the brightness fades, a pulsing light source appears at the center, surrounded by a small expanding nebula. The pulsing object is a pulsar, a type of neutron star, which represents the core of the massive star that exploded. The cloud around it is a pulsar wind nebula, which is formed and maintained by an outflow of particles streaming away from the neutron star. 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At its heart lies an isolated neutron star, the crushed core of the original star. It spins about 30 times a second, sweeping a beam of radiation toward Earth with every rotation, lighthouse style, which classifies the neutron star as a pulsar. This rapid spin powers X-ray jets (elongated blue-white feature near center) and a high-speed outflow of electrons and other particles. The particles collect in a vast cloud-like structure called a pulsar wind nebula, which also forms around magnetars, the pulsar’s supermagnetized cousin. This emission gradually slows the neutron star’s spin. These images combine X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (bluish white) and infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.Credit: X-ray, Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared, Webb: NASA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. MajorAlt text: X-ray and infrared composite of the Crab NebulaImage description: Against a starry background lies a colorful, roughly elliptical cloud taking up most of the frame. Its outer edges are formed by gray, red, and yellow loops and tendrils, parts of which seem to be outward-moving splashes and rivulets of color. The inner area is filled with a faint bluish glow that brightens toward the center. Brighter bluish-white rings make up a kind of bull’s-eye surrounding the pulsar, and an elongated structure curves diagonally downward. ", "width": 1024, "height": 895, "pixels": 916480 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }