Crab Nebula's Output Has Declined (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Crab Nebula's Output Has Declined

Caption

X-ray data from NASA's Fermi, RXTE, and Swift satellites and the European Space Agency's International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) confirm that the Crab Nebula's output has declined about 7 percent in two years at energies from 15,000 to 50,000 electron volts. They also show that the Crab has brightened or faded by as much as 3.5 percent a year since 1999. Fermi's Large Area Telescope has detected powerful gamma-ray flares (magenta lines) as well.

Credit

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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