Crab pulsar — LLMpedia

Crab pulsar
Optical: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al. X-Ray: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al. · Public domain · source
Name	Crab pulsar
Epoch	J2000
Constellation	Taurus
Class	Young radio pulsar
Period	0.033 s
Age	~960 years
Distance	~2 kpc

Contents

Crab pulsar The Crab pulsar is a young, rapidly rotating neutron star located in the Crab Nebula in the constellation Taurus, formed in the supernova observed in 1054 CE and associated with historical records from Song dynasty and Arab chronicles. It is the central engine powering the high-energy emission from the remnant studied by teams at institutions such as Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Space Agency, NASA, and observatories like Palomar Observatory and Arecibo Observatory. The object has been a key target for investigations into neutron star structure, magnetic field evolution, and relativistic outflows by collaborations including groups at Jodrell Bank Observatory, CERN, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, and National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Discovery and identification

The central source in the Crab Nebula was first connected to the historical 1054 CE supernova through work by astronomers at Harvard College Observatory, Royal Greenwich Observatory, and researchers such as Fritz Zwicky who advanced the concept of neutron stars and supernova remnants. Radio pulses from the young neutron star were discovered during surveys at Jodrell Bank Observatory, Arecibo Observatory, Cambridge Observatory and verified by timing analyses developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology. Optical pulsations were detected at Palomar Observatory and by observers affiliated with University of Cambridge and University of California, Berkeley, while X-ray and gamma-ray counterparts were identified using instruments from César Observatory teams, European Southern Observatory collaborators, Chandra X-ray Observatory, ROSAT, BeppoSAX, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

The neutron star has a rotation period of approximately 33 milliseconds and a spin-down rate measured by timing programs at Jodrell Bank Observatory, Parkes Observatory, Arecibo Observatory, Green Bank Observatory, and Effelsberg Radio Telescope, implying a magnetic dipole field strength comparable to values discussed in work by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Lev Landau about degenerate matter. Mass and radius estimates informed by equations of state developed by researchers at Princeton University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Tokyo place the object in the neutron-star regime studied by LIGO Scientific Collaboration and theoretical models from Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics. The inferred characteristic age aligns with observations from medieval records and modern age estimates used by teams at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

High-energy emission spanning radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray bands has been modeled using magnetospheric theories developed by Thomas Gold, Pacini, J. Anthony Hewish, and contemporary groups at Stanford University, Princeton University, and Columbia University. Radio emission studies conducted by groups at Jodrell Bank Observatory, Parkes Observatory, Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, and Very Large Array explore coherent processes related to curvature radiation and plasma instabilities discussed in work by Richard Feynman and Lev Landau. Optical pulsations analyzed at Palomar Observatory and Keck Observatory complement X-ray timing from Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton as well as gamma-ray observations by Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and VERITAS, all contributing to spectral energy distribution modeling by teams at Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and European Space Agency researchers.

The object exhibits highly stable rotation punctuated by sudden spin-up events known as glitches, first characterized in pulsar timing programs at Jodrell Bank Observatory and further analyzed by researchers at University of Manchester, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Glitch recovery and long-term spin-down have informed superfluid interior models developed by Anderson and Itoh and later refined by groups at University of Southampton, Northwestern University, and University of Arizona. Timing noise and correlations with high-energy flare activity have been monitored by coordinated campaigns involving Chandra X-ray Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, INTEGRAL, Swift Observatory, and radio facilities including Parkes Observatory and Green Bank Observatory.

The pulsar drives a relativistic wind inflating the Crab Nebula and producing a synchrotron nebula shaped by termination shocks and magnetic fields studied by teams at Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, and University of Oxford. High-resolution imaging by Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and ground-based arrays such as Very Large Array and Atacama Large Millimeter Array reveals toroidal and jet features that inform magnetohydrodynamic simulations by research groups at Princeton University, MIT, University of Chicago, and University of Toronto. Interaction with surrounding ejecta links studies of supernova nucleosynthesis by Fred Hoyle-inspired models and observational programs at European Southern Observatory and Keck Observatory.

Category:Neutron stars Category:Pulsars Category:Supernova remnants