This animation shows a supernova — the explosion of a massive star — and the formation of an expanding cloud of debris called a supernova remnant. As the brightness fades, a pulsing light source appears at the center, surrounded by a small expanding nebula. The pulsing object is a pulsar, a type of neutron star, which represents the core of the massive star that exploded. The cloud around it is a pulsar wind nebula, which is formed and maintained by an outflow of particles streaming away from the neutron star. A version of the animation is available without the pulsar.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
This animation shows a supernova — the explosion of a massive star — and the formation of an expanding cloud of debris called a supernova remnant. As the brightness fades, a pulsing light source appears at the center, surrounded by a small expanding nebula. The pulsing object is a pulsar, a type of neutron star, which represents the core of the massive star that exploded. The cloud around it is a pulsar wind nebula, which is formed and maintained by an outflow of particles streaming away from the neutron star. A version of the animation is available without the pulsar.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab