Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Today's Picture: June 24, 1995

The Crab Nebula and Geminga in Gamma Rays
Picture Credit: NASA, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

Explanation: What if you could "see" in gamma-rays? If you could, these two spinning neutron stars or pulsars would be among the brightest objects in the sky. This computer processed image shows the Crab Nebula pulsar (below and right of centre) and the Geminga pulsar (above and left of centre) in the "light" of gamma-rays. Gamma-ray photons are more than 10,000 times more energetic than visible light photons and are blocked from the Earths's surface by the atmosphere. This image was produced by the high energy gamma-ray telescope "EGRET" on board NASA's orbiting Compton Observatory satellite.

For more information see Compton Science Support Centre release.

Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter from Voyager

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC
&: Michigan Tech. U.