Space

Unraveling The Surprising Data Of The Chandra Archives: Cluster Of Young Stars, Galaxy Clusters, Pulsars (Video)

Elaine Hannah
First Posted: Oct 17, 2016 05:08 AM EDT

The Chandra Data Archive releases a collection of images that includes the cluster of young stars, galaxy clusters and supernova, among others. This is in the observance of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to celebrate the American Archive Month.

The Chandra Data Archive (CDA) aims to support the astronomical community that includes the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) in accessing Chandra data. It provides digital archives through strong query engines. It also contains all the data detected by the telescope since its launches into space in 1999. The data is made available to the scientific community and general public for years.

The following objects and images are collected from the treasures of Chandra Data Archives, which are shared by NASA:

Westerlund 2

Westerlund 2 is a cluster of young stars aged one to two million years old. This cluster of young stars is located about 20,000 light years from Earth. The green and blue reveal thick clouds where the stars are forming and the high-energy radiation in purple.

3C31

The radio galaxy 3C31 (blue), known to be a strong emitter of radio waves, is located 249 million light years from the earth. This permits the astronomers to explore the temperature, density and pressure of 3C31. The image is combined with Hubble's visible light data in yellow color.

Abell 665

Abell 665 is a merging galaxy cluster that generates huge shock waves. In this image, the X-rays from Chandra (blue) reveal hot gas in the galaxy clusters and the bow wave shape of the shock is expose the large white region near the center. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey showed the galaxies and stars (white).

Toothbrush Cluster

This is a galaxy cluster that is in resemblance to the dental tool. The stem of the brush in green is due to radio waves and the diffuse emission in purple is produced by X-rays from Chandra. Meanwhile, the galaxies and stars in white the blue is the map from gravitational lensing, which about 80 percent dark matter.

CTB 37A

CTB 37a is a supernova remnant that is located in the galaxy about 20,000 light years from Earth.

PSR J1509-5850

PSR J1509-5850 is also known as pulsars located about 12,000 light years from Earth. It is the bright white spot in the center of the image and generated a long tail of X-ray emission behind it.

 

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