Chandra Detects Halo Of Hot Gas Around Milky Way-Like Galaxy

Chandra_165_1024

chandra_165 July 19th, 2001

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/D.Wang et al., Optical: NASA/HST/D.Wang et al.

Chandra's observations of NGC 4631 reveal a giant halo of hot gas (shown in blue and purple) surrounding this spiral galaxy. The structure across the middle of the image and the extended faint filaments (shown in orange) represent data from the Hubble Space Telescope that reveal giant bursting bubbles created by merging clusters of massive stars. NGC 4631 closely resembles our Milky Way galaxy, and observations of NGC 4631 and similar galaxies provide astronomers with an important tool in the understanding our own galactic environment.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/1138/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
NGC 4631

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
25,000,000 light years

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 42m 10.5s
DEC = 32° 32’ 34.6”
Constellation
Canes Venatici

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 2.07 nm
Red Hubble (WFPC2) Optical (NII) 658.0 nm
Spectrum_xray1
Blue
Red
Chandra_165_1280
×
ID
165
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 4631
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/D.Wang et al., Optical: NASA/HST/D.Wang et al.
Release Date
2001-07-19
Lightyears
25,000,000
Redshift
25,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/1138/
Type
Collage
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, HST
Instrument
ACIS, WFPC2
Color Assignment
Blue, Red
Band
X-ray, Optical
Bandpass
X-ray, NII
Central Wavelength
2.07, 658
Start Time
2000-04-15, 2000-05-10T13:38:14
Integration Time
61200, 10800
Dataset ID
797
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
190.5438981, 32.5429563
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-Ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
1138_xray_opt.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/1138/1138_xray_opt.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2011-10-20T14:33:15-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
25,000,000 light years

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