NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory released a gallery of images yesterday, including R Aquarii, Cassiopeia A, the Guitar Nebula, Abell 2597 and NGC 4490. Learn more about each of the Chandra X-ray images below. Image via NASA.
Chandra X-ray images show advantage of working together
NASA released a new gallery of Chandra X-ray images on February 2, 2022. Observing the universe in X-rays lets us see a whole realm of high-energy phenomena, otherwise hidden to our eyes. And the Chandra X-ray Observatory has been observing the universe in X-rays since its launch in 1999. Enjoy this new gallery of five images. It includes the binary system R Aquarii, the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, the Guitar Nebula and its pulsar, the galaxy cluster Abell 2597 and the galaxy NGC 4490.
R Aquarii is a binary star system – a white dwarf and a red giant – about 710 light-years away toward the constellation Aquarius. As they orbit around a common center, the white dwarf siphons material off the red giant. Eventually, the white dwarf will accumulate enough material to trigger an explosion. The red and blue in this image are structures from past outbursts that the Hubble Space Telescope captured in visible light. The purple is X-ray data from Chandra that shows a jet from the white dwarf striking material surrounding it, creating shock waves. Image via NASA.
Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A
Cassiopeia A is a supernova remnant in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, lying about 11,000 light-years away. Chandra saw silicon in red, sulfur in yellow, calcium in green and iron in light purple. The blue delineates the edge of the expanding blast wave. The National Science Foundation’s Karl Jansky Very Large Array contributed radio data in dark purple, blue and white. Hubble provided optical data in orange. Image via NASA.
Guitar Nebula and pulsar
The Guitar Nebula is home to a fast-moving pulsar named PSR B2224+65. The pulsar, a spinning neutron star, has puzzling jets of X-rays shooting out from it at unexpected angles. The blue portion of the image is optical light. The pink shows the X-ray jet, pointing nearly perpendicularly to the guitar-shaped structure, coming from the magnetic poles of the pulsar. The Guitar Nebula is 6,500 light-years in the direction of the constellation Cepheus. Image via NASA.
Galaxy cluster Abell 2597
Abell 2597 is a galaxy cluster that houses a supermassive black hole at its core. The supermassive black hole is driving gas in the cluster outward. As it does so, it creates bubbles, or voids. In this image, the blue is X-rays, the orange is optical data from the STScI’s Digitized Sky Survey, and red is emission from hydrogen atoms in optical light from the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Abell 2597 lies a whopping 1.1 billion light-years away toward the constellation Aquarius. Image via NASA.
NGC 4490, Cocoon Galaxy
NGC 4490 – the Cocoon Galaxy – is a large spiral galaxy undergoing a close encounter with a smaller galaxy just out of view to the upper right. The gravitational interaction between the galaxies triggers star formation. Scientists believe the two galaxies’ near collision is over and they’re now separating. The purple in the image represents X-rays coming from stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars. Hubble provided optical data in red, green and blue. The Cocoon Galaxy is about 25 million light-years away toward the constellation Canes Venatici. Image via NASA.
Bottom line: A new gallery of Chandra X-ray images showcases a wide range of objects in the universe and highlights how we can understand them better by combining data from several different observatories.
Kelly Kizer Whitt has been a science writer specializing in astronomy for more than two decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine, and she has made regular contributions to AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club, among other outlets. Her children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, was published in 2012. She has also written a young adult dystopian novel titled A Different Sky. When she is not reading or writing about astronomy and staring up at the stars, she enjoys traveling to the national parks, creating crossword puzzles, running, tennis, and paddleboarding. Kelly lives in Wisconsin.
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