X-ray & Optical Images of RCW 103
Using Chandra and other X-ray observatories, astronomers have found evidence for what is likely one of the most extreme pulsars, or rotating neutron stars, ever detected. These images show RCW 103 and its central source 161348-5055 in three bands of X-rays detected by Chandra with low, medium, and high-energy X-rays colored red, green, and blue respectively, as well as the same field of view from an optical image. The central source RCW 103 has properties of a magnetar, a highly magnetized neutron star, yet spins at the relatively slow rate of once about every six and a half hours. This would make it the slowest spinning neutron star ever detected.
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/University of Amsterdam/N.Rea et al; Optical: DSS)