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CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
New Dimensions of Cassiopeia A: Over Time and in 3-D
New Dimensions of Cassiopeia A: Over Time and in 3-D
Dr. Daniel PatnaudeDr. Daniel PatnaudeNASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryNASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryHarvard-Smithsonian Center for AstrophysicsHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Dr. Tracey DelaneyDr. Tracey DelaneyNASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryNASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
CHANDRA: NOT YOUR BACKYARD TELESCOPE
Most people think of a “telescope” as
something in a backyard or the dome at
the local planetarium. But telescopes
like these that detect the kind of light
we can see with our human eyes are
just one answer. Stopping there would
be like saying, we have cars to get
around, who needs airplanes?
Light takes on many forms — from
radio to infrared to X-rays and more.
And the Universe tells its story through
all of these different types of radiation.
So, in order to really understand the
cosmos, astronomers need all different
kinds of telescopes.
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THE BIG PICTURE
Do we really need these “other” kinds of telescopes? The truth is if we only studied
the cosmos in the light we can detect with our eyes, we would only see a small
fraction of what was going on. In other words, it would be like trying to figure out the
action and score of a baseball game while only seeing down the third base line. By
studying all types of light, we can hope to get the full picture of the Universe.
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ASTRONOMY’S VERSION OF MOORE’S LAW
If these other kinds of telescopes are important, why haven’t
more people heard about them? First, so-called visible light is the
best place to start because humans already have a pair of such
“telescopes”: their eyes. Galileo built on this fact with his
telescope in 1609 and work in “optical” astronomy has
progressed from there.
Other wavelengths, however, had more difficult starts. For
example, X-rays from space are almost entirely absorbed by the
Earth’s atmosphere. This meant that X-ray astronomy could not
begin until humans figured out how to launch satellites and
rockets into space in the middle of the 20 th century. But X-ray
astronomy has grown up quickly and made incredible progress in
just a handful of decades.
Think of Moore’s Law — the one that says computing power will
double every 18 months. X-ray astronomy has been faster than
Moore's law, improving 100 million times in sensitivity in just 36
years.
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DO X-RAY ASTRONOMERS WEAR LEAD APRONS?
When objects get very hot (or, by
extension, very energetic), they
give off X-rays. Some of the most
intriguing objects in the Universe-
black holes, exploded stars,
clusters of galaxies-reveal much
about themselves through X-rays.
An X-ray machine can't act like
Chandra and photograph an X-ray
source. Chandra, however, can act
like the camera in an X-ray
machine and reveal information
about what's between the source
and the camera.
Med. X-rays
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FALSE, OR RATHER, REPRESENTATIVE, COLOR
X-rays can’t be seen with the human eye, and don’t have any "color." Images taken by telescopes
that observe at the "invisible" wavelengths are sometimes called false color images. That’s because
the colors used to make them are not real but are chosen to bring out important details. The color
choice is typically used as a type of code in which the colors can be associated with the intensity or
brightness of the radiation from different regions of the image, or with the energy of the emission.
False Color
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MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL
Another reason why a telescope like the Chandra X-ray Observatory is so remarkably successful is that X-ray
astronomy is very technically challenging. One of the biggest problems is that X-rays that strike a ‘regular’ mirror head
on will just be absorbed. In order to focus X-rays onto a detector, the mirrors have to be shaped like barrels so that the
X-rays strike them at grazing angles, just like pebbles skipping across a pond.
http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/animations/mirror_comparison_lg.mpg
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FAR OUT ORBIT
The Chandra X-ray Observatory captures X-ray images and measures spectra of many high-energy cosmic
phenomena. Unlike Hubble, its sister “Great Observatory,” Chandra has a highly elliptical orbit that takes it 1/3 of the
way to the Moon. This orbit allows Chandra to observe continuously for many hours at a time, but makes it
unreachable by the Space Shuttle, which was used to launch it back in 1999 . (High Def version available by request)
Orbit
High Res QT: http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/animations/Dana_BShot_lg_web.mov
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8 Years
TEN YEARS OF CHANDRA
Highlights of discoveries made with Chandra range from the mysteries surrounding black holes, to the secret lives of galaxies, to the puzzles of dark matter and dark energy. In short, nearly all areas of astrophysics are part of the X-ray Universe.
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
ANIMATION of an Exploding Star
When a massive star explodes, it creates a shell of hot gas that glows brightly in X-rays. This animation shows this process and depicts the stellar debris that Chandra is able to observe, revealing the dynamics of the explosion. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/casa/animations.html
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
Cassiopeia A - A supernova remnant 10,000 light years from Earth.
Cassiopeia A, or Cas A, for short, was first observed on Earth in the late 17th centuries. As one of the youngest supernova remnants in the Milky Way, It has become one of the best-studied supernova remnants in the sky with telescopes of many different wavelengths. Pictured: Chandra X-ray Image
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
Cassiopeia A - A supernova remnant 10,000 light years from Earth.
Up until now, the view of Cas A has been a static one – the typical two-dimensions that make the supernova remnant appear flat on the sky. Two new results being presented today change that.Pictured: Chandra X-ray (red & yellow): Spitzer Infrared (blue)
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
Cas A in Motion
This movie is a sequence of images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory taken from 2000 to 2008. This allows astronomers to see Cas A over a new dimension – time – and watch how the entire structure as well as individual features evolve.
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
Cas A in Motion
Scientific Value: -Study of “proper motion” of different features including shock waves -Ability to monitor variations in the brightness of X-rays across the remnant
CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORYHTTP://CHANDRA.HARVARD.EDU
Cas A in 3D
A separate result from a different group shows Cas A coming alive in a different way – through the third dimension of space. Utilizing a technique borrowed from medical imaging, astronomers now have a way to travel through the heart of Cas A using data from NASA’s Chandra and Spitzer telescopes.
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A New Way to Visualize Cas A
3-D Fly-Through of Cas A: -Allows multiple data sets to be viewed simultaneously -Shows new features unseen in traditional 2-D data sets -Reveals details of how the parent star exploded
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STELLAR EVOLUTION
Stellar Ev
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BIRTH OF A NEUTRON STAR
Neutron Star
At the end of its evolution, the central core of a massive star collapses to form a neutron star. This collapse releases a tremendous amounts of energy that powers a supernova explosion.
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HISTORIC SUPERNOVAS
Historic SNRs
Every 50 years or so, a star in our Galaxy blows itself apart in a supernova explosion, one of the most violent events in the universe. The force of these explosions produces spectacular light shows. Explosions in past millennia have been bright enough to catch the attention of early astronomers hundreds of years before the telescope had been invented.
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REQUEST THE HISTORIC SUPERNOVA POSTER IN BULK AT
Resources
http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/request.html
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MORE INFORMATION AT CHANDRA
URLs
Cas A (Embargoed until 1/6, 1pm): http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/casa/
Related Images:
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/category/snr.html
Animations & Video:http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/animations/
Resources:http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/update.htmlhttp://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/anim.html
SNR Demos:http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/formal/demos/snr.html