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Gamma-ray Generation

If you could see in gamma ray light instead of the optical light we are used to, the Crab Nebula pulsar would be one of the brightest objects in the sky. The Crab Nebula was created when a star in that region ended its life as a supernova, leaving behind the cloud of gas (the crab nebula) and the neutron star inside (the pulsar). The powerful supernova explosion occurred in 1054 A.D. and was recorded by Chinese astronomers. It was so powerful that its star-like glimmer could be seen by the naked eye during the day.

Imagine the Universe is a service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Nicholas White (Director), within the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Imagine Team
Project Leader: Dr. Jim Lochner
All material on this site has been created and updated between 1997-2004.

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