chandra_392 April 28th, 2008
Credit: NASA/CXC/Northwestern Univ/J.Fregau
These two Chandra images are part of a study that shows that globular clusters, some of the oldest known objects in the Universe, may be less mature in their development than previously thought. The amount of bright X-ray sources is an indication of where each globular cluster stands in its evolution. In these images, red, green, and blue represent low, medium, and high-energy X-rays detected by Chandra. NGC 6397 has a clear surplus of X-ray sources, suggesting that it is in its middle age, while NGC 6121 appears to still be in adolescence.
Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory
Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/gclust/
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...
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