Probing a Nearby Stellar Cradle

Spitzer_sig12-012_1024

spitzer_sig12-012 November 8th, 2012

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J.Drake et al, Optical: Univ. of Hertfordshire/INT/IPHAS, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Milky Way and other galaxies in the universe harbor many young star clusters and associations that each contain hundreds to thousands of hot, massive, young stars known as O and B stars. The star cluster Cygnus OB2 contains more than 60 O-type stars and about a thousand B-type stars. Deep observations with NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory have been used to detect the X-ray emission from the hot outer atmospheres, or coronas, of young stars in the cluster and to probe how these fascinating star factories form and evolve. About 1,700 X-ray sources were detected, including about 1,450 thought to be stars in the cluster. In this image, X-rays from Chandra (blue) have been combined with infrared data from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope (red) and optical data from the Isaac Newton Telescope (orange).

Young stars ranging in age from one million to seven million years were found. The infrared data indicates that a very low fraction of the stars have circumstellar disks of dust and gas. Even fewer disks were found close to the massive OB stars, betraying the corrosive power of their intense radiation that leads to early destruction of their disks. There is also evidence that the older population of stars has lost its most massive members because of supernova explosions. Finally, a total mass of about 30,000 times the mass of the sun is derived for Cygnus OB2, similar to that of the most massive star forming regions in our Galaxy. This means that Cygnus OB2, located only about 5,000 light years from Earth, is the closest massive star cluster.

This composite image of the star cluster Cygnus OB2 contains X-rays from Chandra (blue), infrared data from Spitzer (red), and optical emission from the Isaac Newton Telescope (orange).

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5503-sig12-012-Probing-a-Nearby-Stellar-Cradle

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

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Cygnus OB2
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Star Formation

Distance

Universescale1
4,700 light years
Spitzer_sig12-012_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 20h 44m 42.7s
DEC = 39° 43’ 44.6”
Orientation
North is 2.2° CW
Field of View
11.8 x 11.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Cygnus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared (Mid-IR) 8.0 µm
Yellow INT Optical (H-alpha) 656.0 nm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Yellow
Blue
Spitzer_sig12-012_1280
×
ID
sig12-012
Subject Category
B.4.1.2  
Subject Name
Cygnus OB2
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J.Drake et al, Optical: Univ. of Hertfordshire/INT/IPHAS, Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2012-11-08
Lightyears
4,700
Redshift
4,700
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5503-sig12-012-Probing-a-Nearby-Stellar-Cradle
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Isaac Newton Telescope, Chandra
Instrument
IRAC, -, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Yellow, Blue
Band
Infrared, Optical, X-ray
Bandpass
Mid-IR, H-alpha, X-ray
Central Wavelength
8000, 656, 0.8267
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
311.17794404710, 39.72905842867
Reference Dimension
3600.00, 3600.00
Reference Pixel
-24344.10351282986, 21418.68586596875
Scale
-0.00005460040, 0.00005460040
Rotation
-2.19532124889
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.0 revision 213+ by the Chandra X-ray Center FITS X FITS Y EPO X EPO Y 1049.50 509.00 1538.50 603.50 614.50 339.00 814.00 288.50 724.50 603.00 984.50 742.00 849.94 1558.46 1133.31 2366.10 1316.63 304.06 2003.28 273.69 1291.18 963.08 1917.59 1386.83 1490.58 1219.05 2237.92 1832.39 Center Pixel Coordinates: 1800.00 309.29600462368 1800.00 38.69699179062
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
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
sig12-012.tif
Metadata Date
2012-11-08
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
4,700 light years

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