Dusty Death of a Massive Star

Spitzer_sig06-016_1024

spitzer_sig06-016 June 6th, 2006

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Stanimirovic (UC Berkeley)

The supernova remnant 1E0102.2-7219 (inset) sits next to the nebula N76 in a bright, star-forming region of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy located about 200,000 light-years from Earth. A supernova remnant is made up of the messy bits and pieces of a massive star that exploded, or went supernova. The image on the right shows glowing dust grains in three wavelengths of infrared radiation: 24 microns (red) measured by the multiband imaging photometer aboard NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope; and 8.0 microns (green) and 3.6 microns (blue) measured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. The red bubble is a dust envelope around the supernova remnant E0102, which is being heated by the shock wave created in the explosion of the remnant's massive progenitor star some 1,000 years ago. Most of the blue stars are in the Small Magellanic Cloud, though some are in our own galaxy.

The close-up of E0102 on the left is a composite of the infrared observations by Spitzer (red), an optical image (0.5 microns) captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (green), and X-ray measurements by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue). The X-ray ring is generated when the reverse shock slams into stellar material that was expelled during the explosion.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2267-sig06-016-Dusty-Death-of-a-Massive-Star

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
E0102 E0102.2-7219 N76
Subject - Local Universe
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale2
2,000,000 light years
Spitzer_sig06-016_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 5h 31m 22.7s
DEC = 12° 15’ 30.1”
Orientation
North is 87.4° CW
Field of View
1.3 x 0.6 degrees
Constellation
Orion

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared -
Spitzer (MIPS) Infrared -
Chandra (ACIS) X-ray -
Hubble (WFPC2) Optical -
Multiple image collage
Spitzer_sig06-016_1280
×
ID
sig06-016
Subject Category
C.4.1.4.   C.4.1.2.  
Subject Name
E0102, E0102.2-7219, N76
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Stanimirovic (UC Berkeley)
Release Date
2006-06-06
Lightyears
2,000,000
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2267-sig06-016-Dusty-Death-of-a-Massive-Star
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Distance taken from Fast Facts.
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer, Chandra, Hubble
Instrument
IRAC, MIPS, ACIS, WFPC2
Color Assignment
Band
Infrared, Infrared, X-ray, Optical
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
M
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
82.844774, 12.258353
Reference Dimension
3921, 1907
Reference Pixel
1960.768767, 953.915645
Scale
-0.000339, 0.000339
Rotation
-87.42499
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
sig06-016.tif
Metadata Date
2012-10-11
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
2,000,000 light years

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