Chandra Release - July 19, 2005

Visual Description: 47 Tuc W

This image features a millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. X-ray and optical images are presented side-by-side, with the X-ray image on the right as a pullout from a smaller portion of the optical image on the left. The left image is dominated by shades of gray, gold and black, with small bright dots densely packed from the central region and decreasing gradually as you move out.    In the X-ray image, the globular cluster 47 Tucanae can be seen as a smattering of bright multicolored dots, in gold, pink, blue, red, white and more. The cluster contains many stars, which emit X-rays due to their strong magnetic fields and fast rotation.   The peculiar pulsar known as 47 Tuc W is denoted by an arrow in the center of the X-ray image. It is a double star system consisting of a normal star and a neutron star that makes a complete rotation every 2.35 milliseconds. Blink your eye and this superdense star the size of Manhattan Island will have rotated 25 or more times!