NASM 125 ii 2011

Exploring the Crab Nebula with the

Hubble, Chandra and FermiSpace Telescopes

Roger BlandfordKIPAC

Stanford

NASM 2

Anasazi Indians

25 ii 2011

NASM 3

Charles Messier

25 ii 2011

NASM 4

Sam Okoye discovers compact radio source

25 ii 2011

NASM 5

Franco Pacini predictsCrab Nebula Powered

by Neutron Star

25 ii 2011

NASM 6

Jocelyn Bell Discovers Pulsars

25 ii 2011

7

John Bahcall (1934-2005)

25 ii 2011 NASM

AstrophysicistAstronomical LeaderMentor to Young ScientistsChampion of Hubble Space Telescope

NASM 8

Hubble Space Telescope

25 ii 2011

NASM 9

Chandra X-ray Telescope

25 ii 2011

NASM 1025 ii 2011

High Energy Astronomy!VERITAS/H.E.S.S.

LIGO

Ice Cube

eV keV MeV GeV TeV PeV EeV ZeV

Cosmic Rays

Gamma-Rays

X

Electromagnetic waves comprise particles called Photons

Cosmic rays comprise mainly Protons and Electrons

Radio

NASM 1125 ii 2011

Fermi(the scientist

and the telescope)

NASM 12

The Pulsing g-ray Sky

Pulses at1/10th true rate

25 ii 2011

NASM 1325 ii 2011

H.E.S.S.

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Supernova Explosion

25 ii 2011

Supernova 1987a in Magellanic Cloud

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Crab Nebula at Different Wavelengths

25 ii 2011

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Optical and X-rays Combined

25 ii 2011

NASM 17

The Entire Spectrum

25 ii 2011 Radio Gamma Rays

TeV

SynchrotronRadiation

ComptonScattering

NASM 18

Synchrotron Radiation

Maximum Synchrotron Photon Energy ~ 100 MeV

25 ii 2011

~0.01 Gauss 10 keV

10 TeV

NASM 19

Compton Scattering

25 ii 2011

0.1 eV Infrared Photon

10 TeV Electron

5 TeV Electron

5 TeV Gamma-rayPhoton

NASM 20

Neutron Star

25 ii 2011

Wilson

• Mass: 1.5 suns• Radius: 10 km • Density: million, billion x

water• Rotation Rate: 30 per

second• Magnetic Field: 1 trillion

Gauss

NASM 21

Crab Pulsar

25 ii 2011

NASM 2225 ii 2011

Faraday’s Disk

Magnet

Conducting Disk

Crank

Voltage: 50 PetaVoltsCurrent: 300 TeraAmpsPower: 100,000 Suns

NASM 23

The Restless Crab

Hester25 ii 2011

NASM 24

Fermi Flares

25 ii 2011

NASM 25

Spectral Changes

September Flare4 day variation

SynchrotronRadiation

Compton Scattering

25 ii 2011

SynchrotronRadiation

Limit

NASM 26

Where is the Flare?

25 ii 2011 Jet Torus

Pulsar

NASM 27

Let’s Keep Exploring the Crab Nebula

25 ii 2011

Thank You