Shocking Detail of Superstar's Activity Revealed

Chandra_263_1024

chandra_263 October 8th, 1999

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

The Chandra X-ray image shows the complex nature of the region around Eta Carinae, a massive supergiant star that is 7,500 light years from Earth. The outer horseshoe shaped ring has a temperature of about 3 million degrees Celsius. It is about two light years in diameter and was probably caused by an outburst that occurred more than a thousand years ago. The blue cloud in the inner core is three light months in diameter and is much hotter; the white area inside the blue cloud is the hottest and may contain the superstar which is vigorously blowing matter off its surface.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/0099/

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

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

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Eta Carinae
Subject - Milky Way
Star

Distance

Universescale1
7,500 light years
Chandra_263_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 10h 45m 4.1s
DEC = -59° 41’ 1.5”
Orientation
North is 0.2° CW
Field of View
1.6 x 1.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Carina

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Orange Chandra (ACIS) X-ray -
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray -
Chandra_263_1280
×
ID
263
Subject Category
B.3  
Subject Name
Eta Carinae
Credits
NASA/CXC/SAO
Release Date
1999-10-08
Lightyears
7,500
Redshift
7,500
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/0099/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Orange, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
50
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
161.2671444, -59.6837534
Reference Dimension
150.0, 150.0
Reference Pixel
76.0, 76.0
Scale
0.000181757, 0.00018175671
Rotation
-0.20
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
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
0099_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2011-07-18T15:38:02-04:00
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
7,500 light years

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