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Q&A: Normal Stars, White Dwarf Stars, and Star Clusters



Q:

The X-ray image of Orion Nebula seems to have a large cross in its center, as if it was formed by 4 quadrants. Why is that?

A:

Orion Nebula

The cross in the image is an instrumental artifact due to the arrangement of the CCD chips in the imaging array of the ACIS detector. See http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/science_instruments2.html Some images do not show this effect because the image is entirely on one chip.

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