Shells and arcs abound in this false-color, multiwavelength view of
supernova remnant N63A, the debris of a massive stellar explosion. The
x-ray emission (blue), is from gas heated to 10 million degrees C as
knots of fast moving material from the cosmic blast sweep up surrounding
interstellar matter. Radio (red) and optical emission (green) are
brighter near the central regions where the x-rays seem to be absorbed
by denser, cooler material on the side of the expanding debris cloud
facing the Earth. Located in the neighboring galaxy known as the Large
Magellanic Cloud, the apparent age of this supernova remnant is between
2,000 and 5,000 years, its extended glow spanning about 60 light-years.
The intriguing image is a composite of x-ray data from the orbiting
Chandra Observatory, optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope, and
radio from the Australia Telescope Compact Array.
X-ray: J. Warren (Rutgers) et al., CXC, NASA
Optical: Y.Chu (U. Illinois), STScI, NASA Radio: J.Dickel (U.
Illinois) et al.,
Original: Bob Sault (18-Jun-2004)
Modified: Bob Sault (18-Jun-2004)
