Powerhouse in the Crab Nebula: MAGIC telescopes observe pulsar at highest energies yet and strongly challenge current theories
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 10:31
in Astronomy & Space
The pulsar at the center of the famous Crab Nebula is a veritable bundle of energy. Astronomers observed the pulsar in the area of very high energy gamma radiation from 25 up to 400 gigaelectronvolts (GeV), a region that was previously difficult to access with high energy instruments, and discovered that it actually emits pulses with the maximum energy of up to 400 GeV -- 50 to 100 times higher than theorists thought possible. These latest observations are difficult for astrophysicists to explain.