NGC 3576: Massive Stars Revealed by Chandra

nobody@flickr.com (Smithsonian Institution) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:30:15 -0700

Description: Chandra's image of NGC 3576 (lower-energy X-rays in red, higher-energy X-rays in blue) reveals a cluster of point-like X-ray sources, some of which are massive young stars that are shredding the gas cloud from which they formed. Because NGC 3576 is very dense, many of the young, massive stars visible in the Chandra image have previously been hidden from view. A cluster of stars is visible in infrared observations, but not enough young, massive stars have been identified to explain the brightness of the nebula. Regions of diffuse X-ray emission are likely caused by hot winds flowing away from the most massive stars.

Creator/Photographer: Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date. The mirrors on Chandra are the largest, most precisely shaped and aligned, and smoothest mirrors ever constructed. Chandra is helping scientists better understand the hot, turbulent regions of space and answer fundamental questions about origin, evolution, and destiny of the Universe. The images Chandra makes are twenty-five times sharper than the best previous X-ray telescope. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra science and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Medium: Chandra telescope x-ray

Date: 2005

Persistent URL: chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/ngc3576/

Repository: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Collection: Normal Stars and Star Clusters Collection

Gift line: NASA/CXC/Penn State/L.Townsley et al.

Accession number: ngc3576

Uploads from Smithsonian Institution, tagged ngc3576

NGC 3576: Massive Stars Revealed by Chandra