The
image left shows Cassiopeia A in the most detailed image ever made of the
remains of an exploded star. The colors represent different ranges of
X-rays with red, green, and blue representing, low, medium, and higher
X-ray energies of the supernova remnant. The one million second image
shows a bright outer ring (green) ten light years in diameter that marks
the location of a shock wave generated by the supernova explosion. A large
jet-like structure that protrudes beyond the shock wave can be seen in the
upper left. Chandra was launched July 23, 1999, aboard the Space Shuttle
Columbia. The data for this new Cassiopeia A image were obtained by
Chandra's Advanced Charged Coupled Device Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS)
instrument during the first half of 2004. 23 Aug 2004
