Chandra Release - June 26, 2009

Visual Description: RCW 86

Part of the supernova remnant RCW 86 is shown in a beautiful X-ray and optical image. The image features a close-up view of a blue and red nebula with many pale gold stars dusted throughout the background. The bright blue structures are shaped like textured cloudy arcs across the field of view. The red wisps follow a similar path and shape but look like streaky atmospheric sprites. This image combines data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Telescope to show a small curve of the roughly circular supernova remnant RCW 86.  The optical data (colored red in the composite) was used to measure the temperature of the gas right behind the shock wave created by the stellar explosion. Using X-ray images from Chandra (blue), taken three years apart, the researchers were also able to determine the speed of the shock wave to be between one and three percent of the speed of light.