Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/J.Warren

Chandra's image (blue) of N63A has been combined with optical (green) and radio (red) images to make this composite image. The X-rays show material heated to about ten million degrees Celsius by a shock wave generated by the supernova explosion. The central region of the remnant is bright in optical and radio light because the supernova shock wave is engulfing a massive cloud of dust and gas. Collisions such as this are thought to trigger the formation of a new generation of stars. The fluffy crescent-shaped X-ray features that appear around the edge of the remnant are thought to be fragments of high-speed matter shot out from the star when it exploded, like shrapnel from a bomb.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/n63a/

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

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html