chandra_283 May 10th, 2005
Credit: NASA/CXC/Penn State/E.Feigelson & K.Getman et al.
This Chandra image was produced by observing the Orion Nebula
almost continuously for 13 days. The long observation enabled
scientists to study the X-ray behavior of young Sun-like stars with
ages between 1 and 10 million years. They discovered that these young stars
produce violent X-ray outbursts, or flares, that are much more frequent
and energetic than anything seen today from our 4.6 billion-year-old
Sun. The range of flare energies is large, with some of the stars
producing flares that are a hundred times larger than others.
Theoretical work indicates that intensely flaring stars would create
strong turbulence in any planet-forming disks around these stars and
lead to the formation of planetary systems similar to our solar system.
Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory
Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/orion/
Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA
Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
Providers | Sign In