Chandra Release - April 3, 2013

Visual Description: NGC 602

The X-ray, infrared and optical image of a "wing" of the Small Magellanic Cloud depicts an intricate and captivating cosmic landscape. The image showcases a nebula filled with twinkling stars, and pockets of dust and gas. The image is awash in bright purple spots, surrounded by various shades of purple, blue, red, gold and pink. These colors are reminiscent of a sunset or a twilight sky. The shape is loosely like a pac-man, facing the left side. The Chandra X-ray observations of this area, called NGC 602, are in purple. Also shown is optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (blue, gold), and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope (red). Astronomers call all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium – that is, with more than two protons in the atom's nucleus – "metals". The Wing is a region known to have fewer metals compared to most areas within the Milky Way. The Chandra results imply that the young, metal-poor stars in NGC 602a produce X-rays in a manner similar to stars with much higher metal content found in the Orion cluster in our galaxy.