Chandra Release - November 4, 2009

Visual Description: Cassiopeia A

The image features a close-up of a supernova remnant called Cassiopeia A  (Cas A, for short).  The Chandra X-ray Observatory image of Cas A is colorful, with purple, blue, green, pink and yellow hues filling the screen. The texture is mottled and streaked, like little flashes of lightning occurring all over the remnant.  Evidence for a thin carbon atmosphere on a neutron star at the center of Cas A has been found. Besides resolving a ten-year-old mystery about the nature of this object, this result provides a vivid demonstration of the extreme nature of neutron stars. An artist's impression of the carbon-cloaked neutron star is also shown pulled out from a bright white source at the center, down to the lower left.  The illustration shows a golden sphere of a densely packed star with what looks like cracks covering its surface.