A Star with a Mystery Partner?

Chandra_361_1024

chandra_361 July 7th, 2007

Credit: NASA/CXC/Penn State/G.Garmire et al

Chandra's X-ray image of RCW 103 shows the debris left behind when a star at least 8 times more massive than the Sun exploded at the end of its life. The colors of red, green, and blue are mapped to low, medium, and high-energy X-rays respectively. At the center, the bright blue dot is likely the neutron star that astronomers believe formed when the star exploded. There is some evidence that an unseen companion star may be slowing the rotation of this central neutron star.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/rcw103/

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
RCW 103
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Neutron Star
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
10,000 light years
Chandra_361_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 16h 17m 38.0s
DEC = -51° 1’ 11.9”
Orientation
North is 0.8° CCW
Field of View
11.7 x 11.6 arcminutes
Constellation
Norma

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Low X-ray) 2.48 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Med X-ray) 1.04 nm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (High X-ray) 470.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_361_1280
×
ID
361
Subject Category
B.3.1.9   B.4.1.4  
Subject Name
RCW 103
Credits
NASA/CXC/Penn State/G.Garmire et al
Release Date
2007-07-07
Lightyears
10,000
Redshift
10,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/rcw103/
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
Low X-ray, Med X-ray, High X-ray
Central Wavelength
2.48, 1.04, 0.47
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
2000.0
Reference Value
244.40849549144, -51.01998487632
Reference Dimension
3000.00, 2954.00
Reference Pixel
1526.54221559578, 1221.69478892081
Scale
-0.00006527480, 0.00006527480
Rotation
0.75439375470
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
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
rcw103.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/rcw103/rcw103.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2012-05-29T12:04:18-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
10,000 light years

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