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Discovery of Spatial and Spectral Structure in the X-Ray Emission from the Crab NebulaThe Chandra X-Ray Observatory observed the Crab Nebula and pulsar during orbital calibration. Zeroth-order images with the High-Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) readout by the Advanced Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) Imaging Spectrometer spectroscopy array (ACIS-S) show a striking richness of X-ray structure at a resolution comparable to that of the best ground-based visible-light observations. The HETG-ACIS-S images reveal, for the first time, an X-ray inner ring within the X-ray torus, the suggestion of a hollow-tube structure for the torus, and X-ray knots along the inner ring and (perhaps) along the inward extension of the X-ray jet. Although complicated by instrumental effects and the brightness of the Crab Nebula, the spectrometric analysis shows systematic variations of the X-ray spectrum throughout the nebula.
Document ID
20000088564
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Weisskopf, Martin C.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Hester, J. Jeff
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ United States)
Tennant, Allyn F.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Elsner, Ronald F.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Schulz, Norbert S.
(Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA United States)
Marshall, Herman L.
(Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA United States)
Karovska, Margarita
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA United States)
Nichols, Joy S.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA United States)
Swartz, Douglas A.
(Universities Space Research Association Huntsville, AL United States)
Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
June 20, 2000
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
Publisher: American Astronomical Sociey
Volume: 536
Subject Category
Space Radiation
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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