Supernova Remnants Deconstructed

Chandra_309_1024

chandra_309 November 15th, 2005

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/U.Illinois/R.Williams & Y.-H.Chu; Optical: NOAO/CTIO/U.Illinois/R.Williams & MCELS coll.

This is a composite X-ray (red and green)/optical (blue) image of two hot gas shells produced by supernova explosions. Although the shells appear to be colliding, it may be an illusion. Chandra X-ray spectra show that the shell of hot gas on the upper left contains considerably more iron than the one on the lower right. This implies that stars with very different ages exploded to produce these objects. The remnant on the upper left is from an old white dwarf star in a binary system, and the one on the lower right is from a much younger massive star, so the apparent proximity of the remnants is probably the result of a chance alignment.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/d316/

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
DEM L316
Subject - Local Universe
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant

Distance

Universescale2
160,000 light years
Chandra_309_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 5h 47m 9.5s
DEC = -69° 42’ 13.9”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CCW
Field of View
6.3 x 6.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Dorado

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Soft X-ray) 1.07 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Medium X-ray) 260.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Hard X-ray) 300.0 pm
Purple CTIO (Curtis-Schmidt) Optical (H-alpha) 656.0 nm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Purple
Chandra_309_1280
×
ID
309
Subject Category
C.4.1.4.  
Subject Name
DEM L316
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/U.Illinois/R.Williams & Y.-H.Chu; Optical: NOAO/CTIO/U.Illinois/R.Williams & MCELS coll.
Release Date
2005-11-15
Lightyears
160,000
Redshift
160,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/d316/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra, CTIO
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS, Curtis-Schmidt
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue, Purple
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray, Optical
Bandpass
Soft X-ray, Medium X-ray, Hard X-ray, H-alpha
Central Wavelength
1.07, 0.26, 0.30, 656
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
2829, 2829, 2829, -
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
86.78944100000, -69.70386100000
Reference Dimension
2400.00, 2400.00
Reference Pixel
1207.52318476632, 1232.11297226068
Scale
-0.00004371418, 0.00004371418
Rotation
0.05231560495
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.0 revision 213+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
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
d316.tif
Metadata Date
2012-07-30T15:38:34-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
160,000 light years

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