Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra Monitoring of the Crab Synchrotron Nebula

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Published 2002 August 27 • © 2002. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation J. J. Hester et al 2002 ApJ 577 L49 DOI 10.1086/344132

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Author affiliations

1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Arizona State University, Box 871504, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504

2 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802

3 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Osaka University, Osaka 560-0043, Japan

4 Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin at Madison, 5534 Sterling Hall, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706

5 Department of Astronomy, University of California at Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411

6 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, MS 61, 6100 South Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892

Dates

  1. Received 2002 July 14
  2. Accepted 2002 August 9
  3. Published
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1538-4357/577/1/L49

Abstract

We report the results of coordinated Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra observations of the Crab synchrotron nebula. Similar dynamical structures, including equatorial wisps moving outward at ~0.5c, are seen in both passbands. The inner X-ray ring is a variable, irregular structure from which wisps and diffuse emission emerge. The X-ray/visible jet to the southeast of the pulsar is a true jet. The data support the interpretation that the inner ring and a highly dynamical feature at the base of the jet are unstable quasi-stationary shocks in the "cold" equatorial wind and polar jet from the pulsar.

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10.1086/344132