Structure in N63A
Shells and arcs abound in this false-color,
multiwavelength view of
supernova
remnant N63A, the debris of
a massive stellar explosion.
The x-ray emission
(blue), is from gas heated to 10 million degrees C as knots of
fast moving material from
the
cosmic blast sweep up
surrounding interstellar matter.
Radio (red) and optical emission (green)
are brighter near the central regions where the x-rays
seem to be absorbed by denser, cooler material on the side of
the expanding debris cloud facing the Earth.
Located in the neighboring galaxy known as the
Large Magellanic Cloud,
the apparent
age
of this supernova remnant is between 2,000 and 5,000 years,
its extended glow spanning about 60 light-years.
The intriguing image is a
composite of x-ray data from the orbiting
Chandra
Observatory, optical data from the
Hubble Space Telescope, and
radio from the
Australia Telescope Compact Array.