Chandra Rewinds Story of Great Eruption of the 1840s

Chandra_812_1024

chandra_812 September 26th, 2023

Credit: X-ray: NASA/SAO/GSFC/M. Corcoran et al.; Image Processing: L. Frattare, J. Major, N. Wolk (SAO/CXC)

A Chandra data time-lapse sequence of Eta Carinae with frames from 1999, 2003, 2009, 2014, and 2020 — along with observations from ESA’s XMM-Newton — allows astronomers to watch as the stellar eruption continues to expand into space at speeds up to 4.5 million miles per hour. The "Great Eruption," seen on Earth in the 19th century, produced a dense pair of spherical gas clouds now called the Homunculus Nebula on opposite sides of the system’s two stars. The Homunculus is clearly seen in a composite image of the Chandra data (orange) with optical light from the Hubble Space Telescope (blue, purple, and white).

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/etacar/

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
Eta Carinae
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Planetary
Star > Grouping > Binary

Distance Details Distance

Universescale1
7,500 light years

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 10h 45m 4.0s
DEC = -59° 41’ 3.0”
Constellation
Carina

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor Chandra (ACIS) X-ray -
Chandra_812_1280
×
ID
812
Subject Category
B.4.1.3   B.3.6.1  
Subject Name
Eta Carinae
Credits
X-ray: NASA/SAO/GSFC/M. Corcoran et al.; Image Processing: L. Frattare, J. Major, N. Wolk (SAO/CXC)
Release Date
2023-09-26
Lightyears
7,500
Redshift
7,500
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/etacar/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
1999-09-06-1948
Integration Time
286800
Dataset ID
50, 51, 1249, 4455, 9933, 9934, 9935, 9936, 9937, 15731, 15732, 15733, 16509, 16510, 16511, 22312, 22313
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
161.26666666666668, -59.68416666666666
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
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
812
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/etacar/etacar.tif
Related Resources
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/etacar/etacar_description_audio.mp3
Metadata Date
2023-12-05
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
7,500 light years

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