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Rosette Nebula:
Scientists Find X Rays from Stellar Winds That May Play Significant Role in Galactic Evolution
This series of Chandra images
shows a mosaic of the Rosette Nebula region. The
colors represent various levels of X-ray energy: red
shows low-energy (0.5-2 keV) and blue shows high-energy
(2-8 keV) X-rays. The mosaic is formed from four
Chandra images, starting with the OB association - a
group of hot young stars - at the center of the Rosette
Nebula on the right and stepping southeast (left) into
the Rosette Molecular Cloud. The red sources in the
Chandra images are dominated by low-energy X-rays and
suffer little absorption by the molecular cloud,
whereas the blue sources are very young stars still
embedded in the gas and dust from which they formed.
The diffuse emission visible in the panel on the upper
right is due to hot gas produced by the collision of
stellar winds from the most massive stars in the
nebula.
| Fast Facts for Rosette Nebula: |
| Credit |
NASA/Penn State/L.Townsley et al. |
| Scale |
Image is17 arcmin per side for each frame. |
| Category |
Normal Stars & Star Clusters |
| Coordinates (J2000) |
RA 06h 31m 52.00s | Dec +04° 55' 57.00" |
| Constellation |
Monoceros |
| Observation Dates |
Jan 5-6, 2001
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| Observation Time |
6 hours |
| Obs. IDs |
1874-1877
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| Color Code |
Red = 0.5-2 keV (low-energy), Blue = 2-8 keV (high-energy) X-rays |
| Instrument |
ACIS |
| Distance Estimate |
5,000 light years |
| Release Date |
September 06, 2001 |
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