A Heart in the Darkness

Chandra_77_1024

chandra_77 February 12th, 2003

Credit: NASA/CXC/U.Liege/Y.Naze et al.

Chandra's image of the young star cluster NGC 346 reveals a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region. Evidence from radio, optical and ultraviolet telescopes suggests that the cloud is a remnant of a supernova explosion. The bright X-ray source at the top center of the image is HD 5980, one of the most massive stars known. This young star is known to have undergone dramatic eruptions in the past. Such eruptions could provide an alternative explanation for the existence of the hot gas cloud.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/ngc346/

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 Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
NGC 346

Distance Details Distance

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 0h 59m 5.0s
DEC = -72° 10’ 42.1”
Constellation
Tucana

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudo Color Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Pseudo Color
Chandra_77_1280
×
ID
77
Subject Category
Subject Name
NGC 346
Credits
NASA/CXC/U.Liege/Y.Naze et al.
Release Date
2003-02-12
Lightyears
1.8e5
Redshift
1.8e5
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/ngc346/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Pseudo-color
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
2001-05-15T01:55:17
Integration Time
99940
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
14.770833, -72.178361
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
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 Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
ngc346_xray.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/ngc346/ngc346_xray.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2012-1-17
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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