A Star Explodes and Turns Inside Out

Chandra_505_1024

chandra_505 March 29th, 2012

Credit: Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss; X-ray: NASA/CXC/GSFC/U.Hwang & J.Laming

This two-panel graphic compares an artist's illustration (left) of a simplified picture of the inner layers of a star just before it exploded to form the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant with a Chandra image (right) of what we see today. The different elements are represented by different colors: iron (blue), sulfur and silicon (green), and magnesium, neon and oxygen (red). The Chandra image uses the same color scheme to show the distribution of iron, sulfur and magnesium in the supernova remnant. A comparison of the illustration and the Chandra element map shows clearly that most of the iron, which according to theoretical models of the pre-supernova was originally on the inside of the star, is now located near the outer edges of the remnant.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2012/casa/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
Cassiopeia A
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant

Distance

Universescale1
11,000 light years

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 23h 23m 25.9s
DEC = 58° 49’ 2.0”
Constellation
Cassiopeia

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 990.0 pm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 540.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray 190.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_505_1280
×
ID
505
Subject Category
B.4.1.4  
Subject Name
Cassiopeia A
Credits
Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss; X-ray: NASA/CXC/GSFC/U.Hwang & J.Laming
Release Date
2012-03-29
Lightyears
11,000
Redshift
11,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2012/casa/
Type
Collage
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
Central Wavelength
0.99, 0.54, 0.19
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
350.8577727, 58.8172111
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
Position
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 Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
casa.tif
Metadata Date
2012-12-21T10:04:33-05:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
11,000 light years

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