A Stellar Sight

Chandra_384_1024

chandra_384 January 23rd, 2008

Credit: NASA/CXC/Univ. de Liège/Y. Naze et al

This Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows Westerlund 2, a young star cluster with an estimated age of about one or two million years that contains some of the hottest, brightest, and most massive stars known. In this image, low-energy X-rays are colored red, intermediate-energy X-rays in green, and high-energy X-rays in blue. The image shows a very high density of massive stars that are bright in X-rays, plus diffuse X-ray emission. An incredibly massive double star system called WR20a is visible as the bright yellow point just below and to the right of the cluster's center.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/wd2/

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
Westerlund 2 Wd 2
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Young Stellar Object
Star > Grouping > Cluster

Distance

Universescale1
20,000 light years
Chandra_384_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 10h 23m 56.9s
DEC = -57° 45’ 35.1”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
8.4 x 8.4 arcminutes
Constellation
Carina

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 1.9 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 830.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 210.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_384_1280
×
ID
384
Subject Category
B.3.1.2   B.3.6.4  
Subject Name
Westerlund 2, Wd 2
Credits
NASA/CXC/Univ. de Liège/Y. Naze et al
Release Date
2008-01-23
Lightyears
20,000
Redshift
20,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/wd2/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Central Wavelength
1.9, 0.83, 0.21
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
155.98688253055, -57.75975051291
Reference Dimension
4200.00, 4200.00
Reference Pixel
2108.10882246604, 2728.47215130698
Scale
-0.00003339488, 0.00003339488
Rotation
0.03171903315
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
/image/chandra/384
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
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
wd2.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/wd2/wd2.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2012-04-06
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
20,000 light years

Providers | Sign In