Date: June 22nd, 2012
Title: Encore: A Tour of the Crab Nebula
Organization: Chandra X-ray Center is operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Link: chandra.si.edu
This podcast originally aired on August 10, 2011
http://365daysofastronomy.org/2011/08/10/august-10th-a-tour-of-the-crab-nebula/
Description: The Crab Nebula is one of the brightest sources of high-energy radiation in the sky. Little wonder – it’s the expanding remains of an exploded star, a supernova seen in 1054. Recently, NASA’s Fermi Gamma Ray Observatory and Italy’s AGILE Satellite detected strong gamma-ray flares from the Crab, including a series of “superflares” in April 2011. To help pinpoint the location of these flares, astronomers enlisted Chandra. The Chandra observations will likely help scientists to home in on an explanation of the gamma-ray flares one day. Even after a thousand years, the heart of this shattered star still offers scientists glimpses of staggering energies and cutting edge science.
Bio: NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope designed to detect X-ray emission from very hot regions of the Universe such as exploded stars, galaxy clusters and matter around black holes. Because X-rays are absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere, Chandra must orbit above it, up to an altitude of 139,000 km in space. The Smithsonian’s Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA, hosts the Chandra X-ray Center which operates the satellite, processes the data, and distributes it to scientists around the world for analysis. The Center maintains a public web site about science results and an education program.
Today’s Sponsor: This episode of “365 days of Astronomy” is sponsored by iTelescope.net – Expanding your horizons in astronomy today. The premier on-demand telescope network, at dark sky sites in Spain, New Mexico and Siding Spring, Australia.
Transcript:
***Transcript coming soon.***
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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