Stig Östlund

torsdag, november 15, 2012

An Exploded Star's Remains and Its Murky Environment

 

Supernova remnant W44 is the focus of this new image created by combining data from the European Space Agency's Herschel and XMM-Newton space observatories. W44 is the vast purple sphere that dominates the left hand side of this image, and measures about 100 light-years across. XMM-Newton data reveal that the remnant is filled with X-ray emission from extremely hot gas.

Herschel's three-colour infrared view comprises PACS 70 and 160 micron and SPIRE 250 micron images. X-ray data from XMM-Newton's EPIC instrument for W44 only has been added in light and dark blue to represent high- (2–8 keV) and low-energy (1.2–2 keV) X-ray emission, respectively. The field of view is about one degree across. North is towards the bottom left of the image; east is to the top right.

Credit: ESA/NASA

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