Comets in the "X"-Treme

chandra_625 April 18th, 2016

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of CT/B.Snios et al, Optical: DSS, Damian Peach (http://damianpeach.com)

Astronomers used Chandra to observe Comet ISON and Comet PanSTARRS in 2013, when these comets were relatively close to the Earth. The graphic shows the comets in optical images taken by an astrophotographer, with insets showing the X-ray images from Chandra. The X-ray emission is produced when a wind of particles from the Sun - the solar wind - strikes the comet's atmosphere. The Chandra data was used to estimate the composition of the solar wind, including the amount of carbon and nitrogen, finding values that agree with independent measurements.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/comets/

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: ISON
Subject - Solar System: Interplanetary Body > Comet

Distance

Color Mapping

	Telescope	Spectral Band	Wavelength
	Chandra (ACIS)	X-ray (X-ray)	826.7 pm
	DSS (DSS2B)	Optical (B-band)	443.0 nm
	DSS (DSS2R)	Optical (R-band)	660.0 nm
	DSS (DSS2IR)	Optical (IR-band)	798.0 nm
DSS optical data combined with comet images obtained by Damian Peach - www.damianpeach.com

ID: 625
Subject Category: A.2.2
Subject Name: ISON
Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of CT/B.Snios et al, Optical: DSS, Damian Peach (http://damianpeach.com)

Release Date: 2016-04-18
Lightyears: 0.95
Redshift: 0.95
Reference Url: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/comets/

Type: Collage
Image Quality: Good
Distance Notes: distance given in AU

Facility: Chandra, DSS, DSS, DSS
Instrument: ACIS, DSS2B, DSS2R, DSS2IR
Color Assignment: Purple, 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

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Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes: D

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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: comets.tif

Resource URL: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/comets/comets.tif
Related Resources

Metadata Date: 2016-04-18T17:40:38-04:00
Metadata Version: 1.2

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

There is no distance meta data in this image.