Chandra Release - July 23, 2009

Visual Description: E0102-72.3

This is an X-ray and optical image of the E0102-72.3 supernova remnant, which is a celestial object formed from the explosive death of a star.  In the image, there is a bright gold, green, and white circular source in the center, with a slight sparkle of pink tinsel around the core, and a surrounding blue halo. This source could be likened to a large glowing round gemstone on a ring, while the blue halo has a shimmering, ethereal atmosphere just around it. In the background, there are many stars visible, which appear as tiny white, blue and pink dots spread all against a dark sky. To the lower right is a large piece of a dimmer, dark green and yellow nebula, just peaking from the bottom corner, and cut off by the field of view.  The Chandra X-ray Observatory data in blue, green and yellow in the center captures high-energy radiation emitted by the supernova remnant itself.  The Hubble optical image provides a visible light view of the remnant in pink, which are dense clumps of oxygen gas that have "cooled" to about 30,000 degree Celsius, and the larger field of view that includes the dimmer nebula at lower right.