A Pinwheel in X-rays

Chandra_410_1024

chandra_410 November 24th, 2008

Credit: NASA/CXC/JHU/K.Kuntz et al.

This Chandra image of M101 is one of the longest exposures ever obtained of a spiral galaxy in X-rays. The point-like sources include binary star systems containing black holes and neutron stars, and the remains of supernova explosions. Other sources of X-rays include hot gas in the arms of the galaxy and clusters of massive stars. These X-ray observations of M101 will be used to establish a valuable X-ray profile of a galaxy similar to the Milky Way. This will help astronomers better understand the evolutionary paths that produce black holes, and provide a baseline for interpreting the observations of distant galaxies.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/m101/

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
M101 NGC 5457 The Pinwheel Galaxy

Distance

Universescale2
20,000,000 light years
Chandra_410_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 14h 3m 12.5s
DEC = 54° 20’ 56.4”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
16.8 x 16.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Ursa Major

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Purple Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 1.71 nm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 830.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Purple
Blue
Chandra_410_1280
×
ID
410
Subject Category
Subject Name
M101, NGC 5457, The Pinwheel Galaxy
Credits
NASA/CXC/JHU/K.Kuntz et al.
Release Date
2008-11-24
Lightyears
20,000,000
Redshift
20,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/m101/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Purple, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
1.71, 0.83
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
210.802, 54.3490
Reference Dimension
4200, 4200
Reference Pixel
2095.383, 2095.383
Scale
-6.67714266172000e-05, 6.67714266172000e-05
Rotation
-0.00
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
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 Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
m101.tif
Metadata Date
2012-04-03T16:54:21-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
20,000,000 light years

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