Description: A long Chandra observation of the Kepler supernova remnant provides unprecedented detail of one of the youngest supernovas in the Galaxy. Studying the debris of this exploded star helps in the understanding of how a star's life can end catastrophically. Red in this image shows material heated by the explosion, while yellow and green depict different elements in the ejecta. Blue represents the highest-energy X-rays and shows a shock front generated by the supernova explosion.

Creator/Photographer: Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date. The mirrors on Chandra are the largest, most precisely shaped and aligned, and smoothest mirrors ever constructed. Chandra is helping scientists better understand the hot, turbulent regions of space and answer fundamental questions about origin, evolution, and destiny of the Universe. The images Chandra makes are twenty-five times sharper than the best previous X-ray telescope. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra science and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Medium: Chandra telescope x-ray

Date: 2006

Persistent URL: chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/kepler/

Repository: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Collection: Supernovas and Supernova Remnants Collection

Gift line: NASA/CXC/NCSU/S.Reynolds et al.