Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

3C58: Pulsar Power

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 23, 2004 is “3C58: Pulsar Power,” an image. It is credited to Credit: P. Slane ( Harvard-Smithsonian CfA ) et al. , CXC , NASA. The original explanation runs about 140 words.

3C58: Pulsar Power
Credit: P. Slane ( Harvard-Smithsonian CfA ) et al. , CXC , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Light from a star that exploded some ten thousand light-years away first reached our fair planet in the year 1181. Now known as supernova remnant 3C58, the region seen in this false-color image glows in x-rays, powered by a rapidly spinning neutron star or pulsar – the dense remains of the collapsed stellar core.”

— APOD editors, December 23, 2004

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 23, 2004
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: P. Slane ( Harvard-Smithsonian CfA ) et al. , CXC , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 140 words

All of December 2004 → · 2004 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Supernovae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 23 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.