NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old
chandra_579 September 16th, 2014
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I.Pillitteri et al; Optical: DSS; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
The artist's illustration featured in the main part of this graphic depicts a star and its planet, WASP-18b, a giant exoplanet that orbits very close to it. A new study using Chandra data has shown that WASP-18b is making the star that it orbits act much older than it actually is. The lower inset box reveals that no X-rays were detected during a long Chandra observation. This is surprising given the age of the star, suggesting the planet is weakening the star's magnetic field through tidal forces.
Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory
Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/wasp18/
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
Distance
Position Details
Color Mapping
- ID
- 579
- Subject Category
- B.1.3.1
- Subject Name
- WASP-18
- Credits
- X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/I.Pillitteri et al; Optical: DSS; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
- Release Date
- 2014-09-16
- Lightyears
- 326
- Redshift
- 326
- Reference Url
- http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/wasp18/
- Type
- Collage
- Image Quality
- Good
- Distance Notes
- Facility
- Chandra, DSS, DSS, DSS
- Instrument
- ACIS, DSS2B, DSS2R, DSS2R
- Color Assignment
- Magenta, Blue, Green, Red
- Band
- X-ray, Optical, Optical, Optical
- Bandpass
- X-ray, B-band, R-band, IR-band
- Central Wavelength
- 0.8267, 443, 660, 798
- Start Time
- Integration Time
- Dataset ID
- Notes
- D
- Coordinate Frame
- ICRS
- Equinox
- J200
- Reference Value
- 24.3542, -45.6778
- Reference Dimension
- Reference Pixel
- Scale
- Rotation
- Coordinate System Projection:
- Quality
- Position
- FITS Header
- Notes
- Creator (Curator)
- Chandra X-ray Observatory
- URL
- http://chandra.harvard.edu
- Name
- Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
- 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
- wasp18.tif
- Resource URL
- http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/wasp18/wasp18.tif
- Related Resources
- Metadata Date
- 2014-09-17T11:33:10-04:00
- Metadata Version
- 1.2
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
