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In this 3-colour image
of the supernova remnant (SNR) 0540-69.3, taken with Chandra X-ray
Observatory (NASA/CXC/SAO), one can easily see that at the center of
the colourful remnant (produced by the supernova shock front
expanding into the interstellar medium), there is an energetic
pulsar surrounded by a torus-shaped nebula, shown in white. The
pulsar B0540-69.3 at the core of the remnant is thought to be very
young by astronomical standards (roughly 1000 years old), making it
a very interesting subject for studies of pulsar timing behaviour,
as young
pulsars are known to "noisy" rotators. This, and other other
young pulsars such as PSR B1509-58, are currently the focus of
research by McGill Pulsar Group's Margaret Livingstone:
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