A quarter-century after its first observations of the full Crab Nebula, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken a fresh look at the supernova remnant. The result is an unparalleled, detailed look at the aftermath of a supernova and how it has evolved over Hubble’s long lifetime. A paper detailing the new Hubble observation is published […]
Category: Pulsars
NASA’s Hubble Revisits Crab Nebula to Track 25 Years of Expansion
A quarter-century after its first observations of the full Crab Nebula, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken a fresh look at the supernova remnant. The result is an unparalleled, detailed look at the aftermath of a supernova and how it has evolved over Hubble’s long lifetime. A paper detailing the new Hubble observation is published […]
NASA’s Webb Observes Exoplanet Whose Composition Defies Explanation
Scientists using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have observed a rare type of exoplanet, or planet outside our solar system, whose atmospheric composition challenges our understanding of how it formed. Officially named PSR J2322-2650b, this Jupiter-mass object appears to have an exotic helium-and-carbon-dominated atmosphere unlike any ever seen before. Soot clouds likely float through the […]
Reaching Out
This image released on Aug. 20, 2025, combines new radio data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array with X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Chandra first released an image of this pulsar and its surrounding hand-shaped nebula in 2009. The new data provides a fresh view of this exploded star and its environment, which […]
X-ray and Radio go ‘Hand in Hand’ in New Image
In 2009, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory released a captivating image: a pulsar and its surrounding nebula that is shaped like a hand. Since then, astronomers have used Chandra and other telescopes to continue to observe this object. Now, new radio data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), has been combined with Chandra’s X-ray data […]
NICER Status Updates
August 5, 2025 Science Observations Remain Paused for NASA’s NICER Telescope Science operations by NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, remain paused as the team continues to evaluate the telescope’s systems after an issue developed with one of its motors. The motor is unable to move […]
Eccentric ‘Star’ Defies Easy Explanation, NASA’s Chandra Finds
Scientists have discovered a star behaving like no other seen before, giving fresh clues about the origin of a new class of mysterious objects. As described in our press release, a team of astronomers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the SKA [Square Kilometer Array] Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope on Wajarri Country in […]
NASA’s Chandra Diagnoses Cause of Fracture in Galactic “Bone”
Astronomers have discovered a likely explanation for a fracture in a huge cosmic “bone” in the Milky Way galaxy, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and radio telescopes. The bone appears to have been struck by a fast-moving, rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar. Neutron stars are the densest known stars and form from the collapse and explosion of massive stars. They […]