Taken Under the "Wing" of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Chandra_537_1024

chandra_537 April 3rd, 2013

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

New Chandra observations have been used to make the first detection of X-ray emission from young stars with masses similar to our Sun outside our Milky Way galaxy. The Chandra observations of these low-mass stars were made of the region known as the "Wing" of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors. In this composite image of the Wing the Chandra data is shown in purple, optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope is shown in red, green and blue and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope is shown in red. Astronomers call all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium - that is, with more than two protons in the atom's nucleus - "metals". The Wing is a region known to have fewer metals compared to most areas within the Milky Way. The Chandra results imply that the young, metal-poor stars in NGC 602a produce X-rays in a manner similar to stars with much higher metal content found in the Orion cluster in our galaxy.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/ngc602/

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
NGC 602
Subject - Local Universe
Star > Grouping > Cluster
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale2
180,000 light years
Chandra_537_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 1h 29m 27.4s
DEC = -73° 33’ 27.9”
Orientation
North is 90.0° CCW
Field of View
2.8 x 2.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Hydrus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Purple Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Blue Hubble (ACS/WFC) Optical (V-band) 555.0 nm
Green Hubble (ACS/WFC) Optical (I-band) 814.0 nm
Red Hubble (ACS/WFC) Optical (H-alpha) 658.0 nm
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Spectrum_xray1
Purple
Blue
Green
Red
Red
Chandra_537_1280
×
ID
537
Subject Category
C.3.6.4   C.4.1.2  
Subject Name
NGC 602
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2013-04-03
Lightyears
180,000
Redshift
180,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2013/ngc602/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Hubble, Hubble, Hubble, Spitzer
Instrument
ACIS, ACS/WFC, ACS/WFC, ACS/WFC, IRAC
Color Assignment
Purple, Blue, Green, Red, Red
Band
X-ray, Optical, Optical, Optical, Infrared
Bandpass
X-ray, V-band, I-band, H-alpha, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength
0.8267, 555, 814, 658, 8000
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
22.3640190, -73.5577379
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1801.0
Scale
1.28258e-05, 1.2825755e-05
Rotation
89.97
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
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
ngc602.tif
Metadata Date
2013-09-20T10:13:36-04:00
Metadata Version
1.0
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
180,000 light years

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