Discovery of Spatial and Spectral Structure in the X-Ray Emission from the Crab Nebula
/ Authors
M. Weisskopf, J. Hester, A. Tennant, R. Elsner, N. Schulz, H. Marshall, M. Karovska, Joy S. Nichols, D. Swartz, J. Kolodziejczak
and 1 more author
/ Abstract
The 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 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.
Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Letters
DOI: 10.1086/312733