07-04-2012, 12:00 AM
Black Widow Pulsar - At the Top of Freaky Phenomena in the Universe?The
pulsar, a.k.a. the "Black Widow," is moving through the galaxy at a
speed of almost a million kilometers per hour. A bow shock wave due
to
this motion is visible to optical telescopes, shown in this image as
the greenish crescent shape. The pressure behind the bow shock
creates
a second shock wave that sweeps the cloud of high-energy particles back
from the pulsar to form the cocoon. This composite X-ray
(red/white)
and optical (green/blue) image reveals an elongated cloud, or cocoon,
of high-energy particles flowing behind the rapidly
rotating pulsar,
B1957+20 (white point-like source). The pulsar is emitting intense
high-energy radiation that appears to be destroying a
companion star
through evaporation. It is one of a class of extremely rapid rotating
neutron stars called millisecond pulsars. Calculations
suggest that
the "black widow" will evaporate away its companion in about a billion
years. These objects are thought to be very old neutron
stars that
have been spun up to rapid rotation rates with millisecond periods by
pulling material off their companions. The advanced age,
very rapid
rotation rate, and relatively low magnetic field of millisecond pulsars
put them in a separate class from young pulsars, such as
the Crab
Nebula. Pulsars rank at or near the top of freaky phenomena found in our
Universe. In the early 1930s, California Institute of
Technology
astrophysicist, Fred Zwicky, an immigrant from Bulgaria, focused his
attention on a question that had long troubled astronomers:
the appearance of random, unexplained points of light, new stars.http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/20 ... ature.html
"Dark Energy" - Do Distant Supernovas Prove Its Existence? Observations of supernova explosions halfway back to the Big Bang give plausible evidence that the expansion
of the universe has been accelerating since that epoch, approximately 8 billion years ago and suggest that
energy associated with the vacuum itself may be responsible for the acceleration. But there are other compelling
theories that have been percolating out there. High red-shift supernovas have helped astronomers to discover one
of the greatest mysteries of science, acting like a time machine to help us understand why the universe is
spreading out at an accelerating rate, according to Robert Kirshner, Clowes Professor of Science, Harvard
University. Kirshner is one of the world's leading experts in the physics of supernovae, supernova remnants,
the Large-scale structure of the cosmos, and the use of supernovae to measure the expansion of the universe.http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/20 ... ature.html
Best Space Fireworks Photos Everhttp://www.space.com/12134-space-firewo ... hotos.html
pulsar, a.k.a. the "Black Widow," is moving through the galaxy at a
speed of almost a million kilometers per hour. A bow shock wave due
to
this motion is visible to optical telescopes, shown in this image as
the greenish crescent shape. The pressure behind the bow shock
creates
a second shock wave that sweeps the cloud of high-energy particles back
from the pulsar to form the cocoon. This composite X-ray
(red/white)
and optical (green/blue) image reveals an elongated cloud, or cocoon,
of high-energy particles flowing behind the rapidly
rotating pulsar,
B1957+20 (white point-like source). The pulsar is emitting intense
high-energy radiation that appears to be destroying a
companion star
through evaporation. It is one of a class of extremely rapid rotating
neutron stars called millisecond pulsars. Calculations
suggest that
the "black widow" will evaporate away its companion in about a billion
years. These objects are thought to be very old neutron
stars that
have been spun up to rapid rotation rates with millisecond periods by
pulling material off their companions. The advanced age,
very rapid
rotation rate, and relatively low magnetic field of millisecond pulsars
put them in a separate class from young pulsars, such as
the Crab
Nebula. Pulsars rank at or near the top of freaky phenomena found in our
Universe. In the early 1930s, California Institute of
Technology
astrophysicist, Fred Zwicky, an immigrant from Bulgaria, focused his
attention on a question that had long troubled astronomers:
the appearance of random, unexplained points of light, new stars.http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/20 ... ature.html
"Dark Energy" - Do Distant Supernovas Prove Its Existence? Observations of supernova explosions halfway back to the Big Bang give plausible evidence that the expansion
of the universe has been accelerating since that epoch, approximately 8 billion years ago and suggest that
energy associated with the vacuum itself may be responsible for the acceleration. But there are other compelling
theories that have been percolating out there. High red-shift supernovas have helped astronomers to discover one
of the greatest mysteries of science, acting like a time machine to help us understand why the universe is
spreading out at an accelerating rate, according to Robert Kirshner, Clowes Professor of Science, Harvard
University. Kirshner is one of the world's leading experts in the physics of supernovae, supernova remnants,
the Large-scale structure of the cosmos, and the use of supernovae to measure the expansion of the universe.http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/20 ... ature.html
Best Space Fireworks Photos Everhttp://www.space.com/12134-space-firewo ... hotos.html