Ring Around a Magnetar

Spitzer_ssc2008-08a1_1024

spitzer_ssc2008-08a1 May 28th, 2008

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Wachter (Spitzer Science Center)

This image shows a ghostly ring extending seven light-years across around the corpse of a massive star. The collapsed star, called a magnetar, is located at the exact center of this image. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope imaged the mysterious ring around magnetar SGR 1900+14 in infrared light. The magnetar itself is not visible in this image, as it has not been detected at infrared wavelengths (it has been seen in X-ray light).

Magnetars are formed when a massive star ends its life in a supernova explosion, leaving behind a super dense neutron star with an incredibly strong magnetic field. The ring seen by Spitzer could not have formed during the original explosion, as any material as close to the star as the ring would have been disrupted by the supernova shock wave. Scientists suspect that the ring my actually be the edges of a bubble that was hollowed out by an explosive burst from the magnetar in 1998. The very bright region near the center of the image is a cluster of young stars, which may be illuminating the inner edge of the bubble, making it look like a ring in projection.

This composite image was taken using all three of Spitzer's science instruments. The blue color represents 8-micron infrared light taken by the infrared array camera, green is 16-micron light from the infrared spectograph, and red is 24-micron radiation from the multiband imaging photometer.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1915-ssc2008-08a1-Ring-Around-a-Magnetar

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
SGR 1900+14
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Neutron Star > Magnetar
Star > Circumstellar Material > Outflow

Distance

Universescale1
20,000 light years
Spitzer_ssc2008-08a1_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 19h 7m 14.2s
DEC = 9° 19’ 18.8”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
4.9 x 4.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Aquila

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Green Spitzer (IRS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 16.0 µm
Red Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared (Mid-IR) 24.0 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Green
Red
Spitzer_ssc2008-08a1_1280
×
ID
ssc2008-08a1
Subject Category
B.3.1.9.2   B.3.7.3  
Subject Name
SGR 1900+14
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Wachter (Spitzer Science Center)
Release Date
2008-05-28
Lightyears
20,000
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1915-ssc2008-08a1-Ring-Around-a-Magnetar
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRAC, IRS, MIPS
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Mid-IR, Mid-IR, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
8000, 16000, 24000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
286.809018, 9.321897
Reference Dimension
578, 516
Reference Pixel
289.681185, 258.712029
Scale
-1.40000000000000e-04, 1.40000000000000e-04
Rotation
0
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2008-08a1.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-06
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
20,000 light years

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