A Stellar Circle of Life

Chandra_643_1024

chandra_643 November 21st, 2016

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/M.McCollough et al, Radio: ASIAA/SAO/SMA

A snapshot of the life cycle of stars has been captured where a stellar nursery is reflecting X-rays from a source powered by an object at the endpoint of its evolution. This composite image shows X-rays from Chandra (white) and radio data from the Submillimeter Array (red and blue). The bright source to the right is Cygnus X-3, an X-ray binary. The smaller object to the left is the Little Friend, a cloud of gas that is reflecting X-rays produced by Cygnus X-3. This configuration provides astronomers with a new way of studying how stars form.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/cygx3/

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
Cyg X-3's Little Friend
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Grouping > Binary
Nebula > Appearance > Dark > Bok Globule

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
20,000 light years
Chandra_643_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 20h 32m 25.8s
DEC = 40° 57’ 28.3”
Orientation
North is 3.0° CCW
Field of View
1.5 x 1.5 arcminutes
Constellation
Cygnus

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Purple Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Blue SMA Radio (CO band) 1.3 mm
Red SMA Radio (CO band) 1.3 mm
Spectrum_xray2
Purple
Blue
Red
Chandra_643_1280
×
ID
643
Subject Category
B.3.6.1   B.4.2.3.2  
Subject Name
Cyg X-3's Little Friend
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/M.McCollough et al, Radio: ASIAA/SAO/SMA
Release Date
2016-11-21
Lightyears
20,000
Redshift
20,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/cygx3/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, SMA, SMA
Instrument
ACIS, -, -
Color Assignment
Purple, Blue, Red
Band
X-ray, Radio, Radio
Bandpass
X-ray, CO band, CO band
Central Wavelength
0.8267, 1.3e6, 1.3e6
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
308.1073375, 40.9578510
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1801.0
Scale
7.15524e-06, 7.1552358e-06
Rotation
2.95
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
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
cygx3.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/cygx3/cygx3.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2016-11-21T14:05:35-05:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
20,000 light years

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