Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Astronomy Picture of the Day - Recycling Cassiopeia A
NASA ^ | 1 Jun, 2023 | Image Credit: X-ray - NASA, CXC, SAO; Optical - NASA,STScI

Posted on 06/01/2023 6:34:00 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After a few million years, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the explosion which created this supernova remnant would have been first seen in planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light about 11,000 years to reach us. This false-color image, composed of X-ray and optical image data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, shows the still hot filaments and knots in the remnant. It spans about 30 light-years at the estimated distance of Cassiopeia A. High-energy X-ray emission from specific elements has been color coded, silicon in red, sulfur in yellow, calcium in green and iron in purple, to help astronomers explore the recycling of our galaxy's star stuff. Still expanding, the outer blast wave is seen in blue hues. The bright speck near the center is a neutron star, the incredibly dense, collapsed remains of the massive stellar core.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 06/01/2023 6:34:00 PM PDT by MtnClimber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 06/01/2023 6:34:19 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; Agatsu77; America_Right; ...
Pinging the APOD list.

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔


3 posted on 06/01/2023 6:35:03 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

That’ll make a cool screen saver...


4 posted on 06/01/2023 7:36:19 PM PDT by Deaf and Discerning
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

Looks kind of like a Portuguese Man-O-War minus the hanging thingies. Very cool image.


5 posted on 06/01/2023 8:06:38 PM PDT by AFB-XYZ (Stand up, or bend over)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

We used to use the microwave emissions fro Cass for calibrating our earth station antennas. Very stron signal and characteristics were well known.


6 posted on 06/01/2023 9:05:42 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (Let's go Brandon)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

It looks like Mick Jagger’s lips....


7 posted on 06/01/2023 10:43:26 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber

8 posted on 06/02/2023 5:16:53 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson