Scientists have discovered that the Crab Nebula, one of our best-known and most stable neighbours in the winter sky, has a propensity for fireworks-gamma-ray flares set off by the most energetic particles ever traced to a specific astronomical object.
The discovery is leading researchers to rethink their ideas of how cosmic particles are accelerated.
"We were dumbfounded," said Roger Blandford, who directs the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, jointly located at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University.
Also known as M1, the Crab Nebula was the first astronomical object catalogued in 1771 by Charles Messier.
"It's a big deal historically, and we're making an amazing discovery about it," said Blandford.
Blandford was part of a KIPAC team led by scientists Rolf Buehler and Stefan Funk that used observations from the Large Area Telescope, one of two primary instruments aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, to confirm one flare and discover another.
more Crab Nebula shoots off surprising flares
The discovery is leading researchers to rethink their ideas of how cosmic particles are accelerated.
"We were dumbfounded," said Roger Blandford, who directs the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, jointly located at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University.
Also known as M1, the Crab Nebula was the first astronomical object catalogued in 1771 by Charles Messier.
"It's a big deal historically, and we're making an amazing discovery about it," said Blandford.
Blandford was part of a KIPAC team led by scientists Rolf Buehler and Stefan Funk that used observations from the Large Area Telescope, one of two primary instruments aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, to confirm one flare and discover another.
more Crab Nebula shoots off surprising flares