A bizarr stellarcorpse 19,000 light-years from Earth pulsarPSR B1509-58beckons from the small southern constellatio of Circinus.Like its cousin at the heart of the Crab nebula,the Circinus pulsar is a rapidly spinning, magnetize neutron star.Seen in this false-color Chandra Observatoryimage, the environmentsurrounding this cosmic powerhouse glows in high energy x-rays.The Circinu pulsar itself, thought to generate more than7 quadrillionvolts (7 followed by 15 zeros), lies within the knot of brightemission near the center of the picture. Stretching toward the bottom left x-rayemission traces jet of particles almost 20 light-years longthat seems to arise from the pulsar's south pole,while the arc of bright emissionabove the central knot is likely a shockwave produced by particlesdriven from the pulsar's equator.Near the top of the picture, lower energy x-ray emission shown in greenis from gas shock-heated to millions of degrees Celsius.The shocked gas was produced by debri blasted out fromthe stellar explosion thatcreated the Circinus pulsar.
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