Chandra Discovers Cosmic Cannonball

Chandra_379_1024

chandra_379 November 28th, 2007

Credit: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al; ROSAT: NASA/GSFC/S.Snowden et al.; Optical: NOAO/AURA/NSF/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al.

A wide-field composite view of the supernova remnant Puppis A (X-rays from ROSAT in purple, optical data in pink) puts the motion of the neutron star RX J0822-4300 into context. The explosion that created the supernova may have been lop-sided, kicking the neutron star in one direction and much of the debris in the other. Astronomers calculate that RX J0822-4300 is moving at about 3 million miles per hour, making it one of the fastest moving stars ever observed.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/puppis/

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 Type
Collage
Object Name
Puppis A RX J0822-4300
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Neutron Star
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant

Distance

Universescale1
7,000 light years
Chandra_379_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 8h 23m 45.5s
DEC = -43° 25’ 38.6”
Orientation
North is 0.4° CCW
Field of View
33.0 x 39.1 arcminutes
Constellation
Vela

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Purple Chandra (HRC) X-ray (X-ray) 250.0 pm
Purple ROSAT (PSPC) X-ray (X-ray) 1.13 nm
Blue CTIO (Schmidt) Optical (O-III) 685.2 nm
Spectrum_xray1
Purple
Purple
Blue
Chandra_379_1280
×
ID
379
Subject Category
B.3.1.9   B.4.1.4  
Subject Name
Puppis A, RX J0822-4300
Credits
Chandra: NASA/CXC/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al; ROSAT: NASA/GSFC/S.Snowden et al.; Optical: NOAO/AURA/NSF/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al.
Release Date
2007-11-28
Lightyears
7,000.0
Redshift
7,000.0
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/puppis/
Type
Collage
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, ROSAT, CTIO
Instrument
HRC, PSPC, Schmidt
Color Assignment
Purple, Purple, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, Optical
Bandpass
X-ray, X-ray, O-III
Central Wavelength
0.25, 1.13, 685.2
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
125.939567566, -43.4273986816
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 4255.0
Reference Pixel
1511.77222959, 2804.90735344
Scale
-0.00015300794, 0.00015300794
Rotation
0.38319912757
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.0 revision 213+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
http://chandra.harvard.edu
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 Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
puppis.tif
Metadata Date
2013-09-20T10:44:55-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
7,000 light years

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