Polarized gamma-ray emission from the Crab
Date: 28 August 2008
Satellite: INTEGRAL
Depicts: Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope composite image of the Crab with polarization vector, inferred by the INTEGRAL SPI spectrometer, superimposed
Copyright: See image credits below
The gamma-ray polarization vector superimposed on a composite image of the Crab from Chandra (X-ray/blue) and the Hubble Space Telescope (optical/red). The vector is drawn so as to pass through the position of the pulsar. The limits on the direction of the vector are indicated by the shading. The direction of the polarization vector shows a remarkable alignment with the inner jet structure.
(Reproduced from the 29 August 2008 issue of Science.)
Image credits: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al., Astrophys. J. 577, L49 (2002) for the X-ray image, and NASA/HST/ASU/ J. Hester et al., Astrophys. J. 577, L49 (2002) for the optical image.
Last Update: 1 September 2019