A Cool Neutron Star in the Constellation Ophiuchus

Chandra_175_1024

chandra_175 September 6th, 2001

Credit: NASA/CXC/Wijnands et al.

Chandra's observation in March of 2001 of the neutron star KS 1731-260 (pale blue dot just above the middle of the image) showed that it is a remarkably "cool" 3 million degrees Celsius. This low temperature was surprising because in the period 1988 to 2000, the neutron star was shining brightly in X-rays due to the heavy bombardment of gas from a companion star, not visible here. The relatively low temperature in its present quiet state suggests that KS 1731-260 was in a deep freeze for a thousand years before 1988 and took 12 years just to get to the temperature it is today. If so, it may represent a new type of neutron star system, and there could be hundreds of them in our Galaxy.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/ks1731/

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
KS 1731-260

Distance

Universescale1
23,000 light years
Chandra_175_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 17h 34m 13.0s
DEC = -26° 5’ 34.1”
Orientation
North is 4.1° CCW
Field of View
1.1 x 1.1 arcminutes
Constellation
Ophiuchus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Blue
Chandra_175_1280
×
ID
175
Subject Category
Subject Name
KS 1731-260
Credits
NASA/CXC/Wijnands et al.
Release Date
2001-09-06
Lightyears
23,000
Redshift
23,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/ks1731/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Blue
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
2001-03-27T00:17:05
Integration Time
20400
Dataset ID
2428
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
263.5542395, -26.0928058
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 2316.0
Reference Pixel
1201.0, 1159.0
Scale
7.67166e-06, 7.6716571e-06
Rotation
4.09
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
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 Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
ks1731_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2011-07-26
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
23,000 light years

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