Cassiopeia A (MIRI Compass Image)

Stsci_2023-121b_1024

stsci_2023-121b April 7th, 2023

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, D. Milisavljevic (Purdue), T. Temim (Princeton), I. De Looze (Ghent University), J. DePasquale (STScI)

This image of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, captured by Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.

The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).

The scale bar is labeled in light-years, which is the distance that light travels in one Earth-year. (It takes 0.25 years for light to travel a distance equal to the length of the scale bar.) One light-year is equal to about 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers. The field of view shown in this image is approximately 10 light-years across.

This image shows invisible mid-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colors. The color key shows which MIRI filters were used when collecting the light. The color of each filter name is the visible light color used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-121

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://stsci.edu/copyright/

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Cassiopeia A
Subject - Milky Way
Nebula > Type > Supernova Remnant

Distance

Universescale1
11,090 light years
Stsci_2023-121b_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 23h 23m 24.3s
DEC = 58° 49’ 20.1”
Orientation
North is 0.5° CCW
Field of View
7.4 x 7.4 arcminutes
Constellation
Cassiopeia

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Webb (MIRI) Infrared 5.6 µm
Cyan Webb (MIRI) Infrared 7.7 µm
Cyan Webb (MIRI) Infrared 10.0 µm
Green Webb (MIRI) Infrared 11.3 µm
Yellow Webb (MIRI) Infrared 12.8 µm
Orange Webb (MIRI) Infrared 18.0 µm
Red Webb (MIRI) Infrared 21.0 µm
Red Webb (MIRI) Infrared 25.5 µm
Spectrum_ir1
Blue
Cyan
Cyan
Green
Yellow
Orange
Red
Red
Stsci_2023-121b_1280
×
ID
2023-121b
Subject Category
B.4.1.4  
Subject Name
Cassiopeia A
Credits
NASA, ESA, CSA, D. Milisavljevic (Purdue), T. Temim (Princeton), I. De Looze (Ghent University), J. DePasquale (STScI)
Release Date
2023-04-07
Lightyears
11,090
Redshift
11,090
Reference Url
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-121
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Webb, Webb, Webb, Webb, Webb, Webb, Webb, Webb
Instrument
MIRI, MIRI, MIRI, MIRI, MIRI, MIRI, MIRI, MIRI
Color Assignment
Blue, Cyan, Cyan, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Red
Band
Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
5600, 7700, 10000, 11300, 12800, 18000, 21000, 25500
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
350.85139403099, 58.82225544319
Reference Dimension
4008.00, 4009.00
Reference Pixel
2206.89126167182, 2034.80242689548
Scale
-0.00003080090, 0.00003080090
Rotation
0.49559352660
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
World Coordinate System resolved using PinpointWCS 0.9.2 revision 218+ by the Chandra X-ray Center
Creator (Curator)
STScI
URL
http://stsci.edu
Name
Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Email
outreach@stsci.edu
Telephone
410-338-4444
Address
3700 San Martin Drive
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
USA
Rights
http://stsci.edu/copyright/
Publisher
STScI
Publisher ID
stsci
Resource ID
STSCI-J-p23121b-f-4149x5240.tif
Metadata Date
2023-04-05T10:46:59-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
11,090 light years

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