Chandra Release - September 6, 2001

Visual Description: KS 1731-260

This image of KS 1731-260 was taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. It features a blue background with two main white dots, which are stars in the field and a background of speckled blue-black. In the top-center of the image, there is a bright spot that represents a neutron star named KS 1731-260. Chandra' s observation in March of 2001 of the neutron star KS 1731-260 showed that it is a remarkably 'cool' 3 million degrees Celsius. This low temperature was surprising because in the period from 1988 to 2000 the neutron star was shining brightly in X-rays due to the heavy bombardment of gas from a companion star, not visible here. A neutron star temperature of 10 million degrees or more was expected.