{ "id": 40211, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/swift-neutron-stars/", "page_type": "Gallery", "title": "Swift: Neutron Stars ", "description": "No description available.", "release_date": "2014-11-13T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2021-01-13T00:00:00-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 858862, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/Swift--Main/Swift-Neutron_Stars.jpg", "filename": "Swift-Neutron_Stars.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 }, "media_groups": [ { "id": 370842, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/swift-neutron-stars/#media_group_370842", "widget": "Tile gallery", "title": "Visuals", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 406988, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13792, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13792/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA Missions Unveil Magnetar Eruptions in Nearby Galaxies", "description": "On April 15, 2020, a wave of X-rays and gamma rays lasting only a fraction of a second triggered detectors on NASA and European spacecraft. The event was a giant flare from a magnetar, a type of city-sized stellar remnant that boasts the strongest magnetic fields known. Watch to learn more.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Collision Course-Alternative Version\" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || MGF_Video_Still.jpg (1920x1080) [602.3 KB] || MGF_Video_Still_print.jpg (1024x576) [264.7 KB] || MGF_Video_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [74.9 KB] || MGF_Video_Still_thm.png (80x40) [5.7 KB] || 13792_Magnetar_Giant_Flare_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [2.6 GB] || 13792_Magnetar_Giant_Flare_best_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [498.6 MB] || 13792_Magnetar_Giant_Flare_good_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [221.6 MB] || 13792_Magnetar_Giant_Flare_best_1080.webm (1920x1080) [24.0 MB] || 13792_Magnetar_Giant_Flare_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [4.0 KB] || 13792_Magnetar_Giant_Flare_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [4.0 KB] || ", "release_date": "2021-01-13T12:15:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:44:23.377934-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 380458, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013700/a013792/MGF_Video_Still.jpg", "filename": "MGF_Video_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "On April 15, 2020, a wave of X-rays and gamma rays lasting only a fraction of a second triggered detectors on NASA and European spacecraft. The event was a giant flare from a magnetar, a type of city-sized stellar remnant that boasts the strongest magnetic fields known. Watch to learn more.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Collision Course-Alternative Version\" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 406989, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13751, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13751/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA Missions Team Up to Study Unique Magnetar Outburst", "description": "On April 28, space- and ground-based observatories detected powerful, simultaneous X-ray and radio bursts from a source in our galaxy. Watch to see how this unique event helps solve the longstanding puzzle of fast radio bursts observed in other galaxies.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Jupiter's Eye\" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Magnetar_FRB_Still.jpg (1920x1080) [535.5 KB] || Magnetar_FRB_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [65.5 KB] || Magnetar_FRB_Still_thm.png (80x40) [4.8 KB] || 13751_Magnetar_FRB_Best_1080.webm (1920x1080) [25.7 MB] || 13751_Magnetar_FRB_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [237.4 MB] || 13751_Magnetar_FRB_Best_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [741.8 MB] || Fast_Radio_Burst_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [4.5 KB] || Fast_Radio_Burst_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [4.5 KB] || 13751_Magnetar_FRB_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [3.2 GB] || ", "release_date": "2020-11-04T11:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2020-11-04T14:43:03-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 381635, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013700/a013751/Magnetar_FRB_Still.jpg", "filename": "Magnetar_FRB_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "On April 28, space- and ground-based observatories detected powerful, simultaneous X-ray and radio bursts from a source in our galaxy. Watch to see how this unique event helps solve the longstanding puzzle of fast radio bursts observed in other galaxies.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: \"Jupiter's Eye\" from Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 406990, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12740, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12740/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Doomed Neutron Stars Create Blast of Light and Gravitational Waves", "description": "This animation captures phenomena observed over the course of nine days following the neutron star merger known as GW170817, detected on Aug. 17, 2017. They include gravitational waves (pale arcs), a near-light-speed jet that produced gamma rays (magenta), expanding debris from a kilonova that produced ultraviolet (violet), optical and infrared (blue-white to red) emission, and, once the jet directed toward us expanded into our view from Earth, X-rays (blue). Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI LabMusic: \"Exploding Skies\" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_1080.png (1920x1080) [2.5 MB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_1080.jpg (1920x1080) [167.3 KB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_print.jpg (1024x576) [50.4 KB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new.png (3840x2160) [7.7 MB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new.jpg (3840x2160) [1.0 MB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_thm.png (80x40) [4.4 KB] || Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_searchweb.png (320x180) [51.4 KB] || 12740_NS_Merger_Update_1080.m4v (1920x1080) [50.3 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_Update_H264_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [96.9 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_Update_1080p.mov (1920x1080) [101.9 MB] || NS_Merger_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [417 bytes] || NS_Merger_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [399 bytes] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update.webm (3840x2160) [10.0 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update_H264.mp4 (3840x2160) [254.9 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update_H264.mov (3840x2160) [516.7 MB] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update_ProRes_3840x2160_5994.mov (3840x2160) [5.1 GB] || 12740_NS_Merger_4k_Update_H264.hwshow [90 bytes] || ", "release_date": "2017-10-16T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-06-23T00:17:47.900998-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 410279, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012700/a012740/Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_1080.jpg", "filename": "Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_2_new_1080.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation captures phenomena observed over the course of nine days following the neutron star merger known as GW170817, detected on Aug. 17, 2017. They include gravitational waves (pale arcs), a near-light-speed jet that produced gamma rays (magenta), expanding debris from a kilonova that produced ultraviolet (violet), optical and infrared (blue-white to red) emission, and, once the jet directed toward us expanded into our view from Earth, X-rays (blue). Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI LabMusic: \"Exploding Skies\" from Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 406991, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11260, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11260/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's Swift Catches an Anti-glitch from a Neutron Star", "description": "Using observations by NASA's Swift satellite, an international team of astronomers has identified an abrupt slowdown in the rotation of a neutron star. The discovery holds important clues for understanding some of the densest matter in the universe.While astronomers have witnessed hundreds of events, called glitches, associated with sudden increases in the spin of neutron stars, the sudden spin-down caught them off guard. A neutron star is the crushed core of a massive star that ran out of fuel, collapsed under its own weight, and exploded as a supernova. It's the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, compressing half a million times Earth's mass into a ball roughly the size of Manhattan Island. Matter within a neutron star is so dense that a teaspoonful would weigh about a billion tons on Earth. Neutron stars possess two other important traits. They spin rapidly, ranging from a few rpm to as many as 43,000, comparable to the blades of a kitchen blender, and they boast magnetic fields a trillion times stronger than Earth's. About two dozen neutron stars occasionally produce high-energy explosions that astronomers say require magnetic fields thousands of times stronger than expected. These exceptional objects, called magnetars, are routinely monitored by a McGill team led by Kaspi using Swift's X-Ray Telescope.Read the rest of the story here. || ", "release_date": "2013-05-29T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:07.787460-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 465955, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011260/Magnetar_Still_FINAL_1080.jpg", "filename": "Magnetar_Still_FINAL_1080.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "An artist's rendering of an outburst on an ultra-magnetic neutron star, also called a magnetar.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 406992, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11713, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11713/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Fermi Finds Hints of Starquakes in Magnetar 'Storm'", "description": "Astronomers analyzing data acquired by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope during a rapid-fire \"storm\" of high-energy blasts in 2009 have discovered underlying signals related to seismic waves rippling throughout the host neutron star.The burst storm came from SGR J1550−5418, a neutron star with a super-strong magnetic field, also known as a magnetar. Located about 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Norma, the magnetar was quiet until October 2008, when it entered a period of eruptive activity that ended in April 2009. At times, the object produced hundreds of bursts in as little as 20 minutes, and the most intense explosions emitted more total energy than the sun does in 20 years. High-energy instruments on many spacecraft, including NASA's Swift and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, detected hundreds of gamma-ray and X-ray blasts.An examination of 263 individual bursts detected by Fermi's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor confirms vibrations in the frequency ranges previously only seen in rare giant flares from magnetars. Astronomers suspect these are twisting oscillations of the star where the crust and the core, bound by the magnetic field, vibrate together. In addition, a single burst showed an oscillation at a frequency never seen before and which scientists still do not understand.While there are many efforts to describe the interiors of neutron stars, scientists lack enough observational detail to choose between differing models. Neutron stars reach densities far beyond the reach of laboratories and their interiors may exceed the density of an atomic nucleus by as much as 10 times. Knowing more about how bursts shake up these stars will give theorists an important new window into understanding their internal structure.Magnetar Burst with Torsional Waves || ", "release_date": "2014-10-21T14:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2015-01-08T14:01:58-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 450243, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011700/a011713/Magnetar_Burst_Torsional_Waves_1080.jpg", "filename": "Magnetar_Burst_Torsional_Waves_1080.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A rupture in the crust of a highly magnetized neutron star, shown here in an artist's rendering, can trigger high-energy eruptions. Fermi observations of these blasts include information on how the star's surface twists and vibrates, providing new insights into what lies beneath. The subtle pattern on the surface represents a twisting motion imparted to the magnetar by the explosion.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 406993, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10543, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10543/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Neutron Star Merge", "description": "Binary systems containing neutron stars are born when the cores of two orbiting stars collapse in supernova explosions. Neutron stars pack the mass of our sun into the size of a city. They are so dense and packed so tightly that the boundaries atoms nuclei disappear. In such systems, Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that neutron stars emit gravitational radiation, ripples of space-time. This causes the orbits to shrink and gradually brings the neutron stars closer together. Shown here is such a system after about 1 billion years, when two equal-mass neutron whirl around each other at 60,000 times a minute. The stars merge in a few milliseconds, sending out a burst of gravitational waves and a brief, intense gamma-ray burst. || ", "release_date": "2010-01-26T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:23.191409-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 494494, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010500/a010543/Merge_Horizontal.00038_print.jpg", "filename": "Merge_Horizontal.00038_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation shows the merger of two neutron stars from a horizontal perspective. Theory predicts that these kinds of collisions would not produce a long afterglow because there isn't much \"fuel\" — dust and gas — from the objects and in the region to sustain an afterglow", "width": 1024, "height": 691, "pixels": 707584 } } }, { "id": 406994, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10740, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10740/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "When Neutron Stars Collide", "description": "Armed with state-of-the-art supercomputer models, scientists have shown that colliding neutron stars can produce the energetic jet required for a gamma-ray burst. Earlier simulations demonstrated that mergers could make black holes. Others had shown that the high-speed particle jets needed to make a gamma-ray burst would continue if placed in the swirling wreckage of a recent merger. Now, the simulations reveal the middle step of the process—how the merging stars' magnetic field organizes itself into outwardly directed components capable of forming a jet. The Damiana supercomputer at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics needed six weeks to reveal the details of a process that unfolds in just 35 thousandths of a second—less than the blink of an eye.For the researchers' website, with more video and stills of their simulations, go here. || ", "release_date": "2011-04-07T09:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-08-14T22:44:54.072536-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 487308, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010740/Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_3.jpg", "filename": "Neutron_Star_Merger_Still_3.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "State-of-the-art supercomputer models show that merging neutron stars can power a short gamma-ray burst.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 406995, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11530, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11530/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Neutron Stars Rip Each Other Apart to Form Black Hole", "description": "This supercomputer simulation shows one of the most violent events in the universe: a pair of neutron stars colliding, merging and forming a black hole. A neutron star is the compressed core left behind when a star born with between eight and 30 times the sun's mass explodes as a supernova. Neutron stars pack about 1.5 times the mass of the sun — equivalent to about half a million Earths — into a ball just 12 miles (20 km) across. As the simulation begins, we view an unequally matched pair of neutron stars weighing 1.4 and 1.7 solar masses. They are separated by only about 11 miles, slightly less distance than their own diameters. Redder colors show regions of progressively lower density. As the stars spiral toward each other, intense tides begin to deform them, possibly cracking their crusts. Neutron stars possess incredible density, but their surfaces are comparatively thin, with densities about a million times greater than gold. Their interiors crush matter to a much greater degree densities rise by 100 million times in their centers. To begin to imagine such mind-boggling densities, consider that a cubic centimeter of neutron star matter outweighs Mount Everest. By 7 milliseconds, tidal forces overwhelm and shatter the lesser star. Its superdense contents erupt into the system and curl a spiral arm of incredibly hot material. At 13 milliseconds, the more massive star has accumulated too much mass to support it against gravity and collapses, and a new black hole is born. The black hole's event horizon — its point of no return — is shown by the gray sphere. While most of the matter from both neutron stars will fall into the black hole, some of the less dense, faster moving matter manages to orbit around it, quickly forming a large and rapidly rotating torus. This torus extends for about 124 miles (200 km) and contains the equivalent of 1/5th the mass of our sun. The entire simulation covers only 20 milliseconds.Scientists think neutron star mergers like this produce short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Short GRBs last less than two seconds yet unleash as much energy as all the stars in our galaxy produce over one year. The rapidly fading afterglow of these explosions presents a challenge to astronomers. A key element in understanding GRBs is getting instruments on large ground-based telescopes to capture afterglows as soon as possible after the burst. The rapid notification and accurate positions provided by NASA's Swift mission creates a vibrant synergy with ground-based observatories that has led to dramatically improved understanding of GRBs, especially for short bursts. || ", "release_date": "2014-05-13T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-08-14T22:44:52.133586-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 455853, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011530/NS_Merger_Frame_200_1080.jpg", "filename": "NS_Merger_Frame_200_1080.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Edited video with music of the 4k neutron star merger simulation.Credit: NASA/AEI/ZIB/M. Koppitz and L. RezzollaMusic: \"Approaching Eclipse\" from stock music site Killer TracksWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 406996, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10708, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10708/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "A Flickering X-ray Candle", "description": "The Crab Nebula, created by a supernova seen nearly a thousand years ago, is one of the sky's most famous \"star wrecks.\" For decades, most astronomers have regarded it as the steadiest beacon at X-ray energies, but data from orbiting observatories show unexpected variations, showing astronomers their hard X-ray \"standard candle\" isn't as steady as they once thought. From 1999 to 2008, the Crab brightened and faded by as much as 3.5 percent a year, and since 2008, it has faded by 7 percent. The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor on NASA's Fermi satellite first detected the decline, and Fermi's Large Area Telescope also spotted two gamma-ray flares at even higher energies. Scientists think the X-rays reveal processes deep within the nebula, in a region powered by a rapidly spinning neutron star — the core of the star that blew up. But figuring out exactly where the Crab's X-rays are changing over the long term will require a new generation of X-ray telescopes. || ", "release_date": "2011-01-12T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:55.280330-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 488426, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010708/Chandra_Graph_1280x720.jpg", "filename": "Chandra_Graph_1280x720.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A short narrated video about the Crab Nebula's variability.Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 406997, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 20077, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20077/", "page_type": "Animation", "title": "Cosmic Explosion Second Only to the Sun in Brightness", "description": "The gamma ray flare produced by neutron star SGR 1806-20, traveled 50,000 light years before impacting Earth. The burst was so powerful, that it disrupted Earth's ionosphere. Scientists know of only two other giant flares in the past 35 years, and this December 27, 2005 event was one hundred times more powerful than either of those || ", "release_date": "2006-08-18T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:55:51.151910-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 510356, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a020000/a020000/a020077/flashfinal00152_print.jpg", "filename": "flashfinal00152_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation illustrates Neutron star SGR 1806-20 which produced a gamma ray flare that disrupted Earth's ionosphere.", "width": 1024, "height": 768, "pixels": 786432 } } }, { "id": 406998, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10366, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10366/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Soft Gamma-Ray Repeater Light Echoes Captured by Swift Satellite", "description": "The X-Ray Telescope (XRT) aboard NASA's Swift satellite captured light echoes from a soft-gamma-ray repeater. These stellar remnants, which are thought to be highly magnetized neutron stars called magnetars, occasionally belt out a series of X- and gamma-ray flares. On Jan. 22, 2009, an object known as SGR J1550-5418 began its second and most intense round of outbursts since October 2008. In the following days, Swift's XRT captured what appears to be an expanding halo as X-rays from the brightest bursts scatter off of intervening dust. Multiple rings form as the X-rays interact with different dust clouds. Closer clouds produce larger rings. Both the rings and their apparent expansion are an effect of light's finite speed and the longer path the scattered light must travel. They will be studied to make a more reliable measurement of the distance to the source and to the dust clouds. || ", "release_date": "2009-02-10T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:56.718933-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 500243, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010300/a010366/SGR_no_overlay_1280x720.00252_print.jpg", "filename": "SGR_no_overlay_1280x720.00252_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Animation of X-ray halo from the flaring neutron star SGR J1550-5418 without overlays.Credit: NASA/Swift/Jules Halpern, Columbia Univ.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 406999, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10426, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10426/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Vela Pulsar in Gamma Rays", "description": "This movie shows pulsed gamma rays from the Vela pulsar as constructed from photons detected by Fermi's Large Area Telescope. The Vela pulsar, which spins 11 times a second, is the brightest persistent source of gamma rays in the sky. The movie includes data from August 4 to Sept. 15, 2008. The bluer color in the latter part of the pulse indicates the presence of gamma rays with energies exceeding a billion electron volts (1 GeV). For comparison, visible light has energies between two and three electron volts. Red indicates gamma rays with energies less than 300 million electron volts (MeV); green, gamma rays between 300 MeV and 1 GeV; and blue shows gamma rays greater than 1 GeV. The movie frame is 30 degrees across. The background, which shows diffuse gamma-ray emission from the Milky Way, is about 15 times brighter here than it actually is. || ", "release_date": "2009-07-02T13:50:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:54:45.200099-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 501006, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010400/a010426/Vela_Pulsar_in_Gamma_Rays_512x288.00027_print.jpg", "filename": "Vela_Pulsar_in_Gamma_Rays_512x288.00027_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This movie shows pulsed gamma rays from the Vela pulsar as constructed from photons detected by Fermi's Large Area Telescope. A single pulsar cycle is repeated four times.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } } ], "extra_data": {} } ] }