PSR0540-69: neutron star and supernova remnant 31/08/1999
Images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory reveal previously unobserved features in the remnants of supernova explosions. Remnant PSR 0540-69 shows dramatic new details of the prodigious production of energetic particles by a rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron star, as well as the enormous shell structures produced by the explosions.
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Image Credit: NASA, CXC, SAO  

PSR 0540-69 is a neutron star, or pulsar, that is rotating very rapidly, making a complete rotation every one-twentieth of a second. It is similar in many ways to the famous Crab Nebula pulsar. Both objects are spinning rapidly, are about 1,000 years old and are surrounded by a large cloud of gas and high energy particles. The surrounding cloud in both cases is powered by the conversion of rotational energy of the neutron star into high energy particles through the combined action of rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field. PSR 0540-69 is 180,000 light years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, one the Milky Way's small satellite galaxies. Constellation: Dorado  
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