Our Neighboring Superstars

Chandra_578_1024

chandra_578 August 26th, 2014

Credit: NASA/CXC/GSFC/K.Hamaguchi, et al.

The Eta Carinae double star system contains one of the biggest and brightest stars in our Galaxy, weighing at least 90 times the mass of the Sun. It is also extremely volatile and is expected to have at least one supernova explosion in the future.

Astronomers are using Chandra to learn more about Eta Carinae through the X-rays it generates. This new Chandra image shows Eta Carinae with low energy X-rays in red, medium energy X-rays in green, and high energy X-rays in blue. The Chandra data are helping to reveal, among other things, how the powerful winds from the two stars in this system interact.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/etacar/

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
Eta Carinae
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Blue Supergiant

Distance

Universescale1
7,500 light years
Chandra_578_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 10h 45m 4.1s
DEC = -59° 41’ 3.7”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CCW
Field of View
2.1 x 2.1 arcminutes
Constellation
Carina

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Soft X-ray) 1.91 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Medium X-ray) 620.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Hard X-ray) 190.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_578_1280
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ID
578
Subject Category
B.3.1.6  
Subject Name
Eta Carinae
Credits
NASA/CXC/GSFC/K.Hamaguchi, et al.
Release Date
2014-08-26
Lightyears
7,500
Redshift
7,500
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/etacar/
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
Soft X-ray, Medium X-ray, Hard X-ray
Central Wavelength
1.91, 0.62, 0.19
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
161.2671566, -59.6843723
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1801.0
Scale
9.76732e-06, 9.7673185e-06
Rotation
0.06
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
etacar.tif
Metadata Date
2014-08-25T14:14:26-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
7,500 light years

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