APOD: 2024 August 23 - Supernova Remnant CTA 1

Good Red Friday morning, Rallypoint, and welcome to the August 23rd edition of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). Supernova Remnant CTA 1 lies about 4,600 light years from Earth between the constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus. The center of CTA 1 is marked by a pulsar, a rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. There are two kinds of pulsars: one which emits at radio frequencies (think gigahertz frequencies and millimeter wavelengths), and the other which emits gamma rays (think exahertz frequencies and picometer wavelengths). CTA 1 is the later, and is called a "dark pulsar" (or quiet pulsar) as a result.