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Cassiopeia A, Chandra 3-color X-ray
(Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO (courtesy, C.Jones))

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Cassiopeia A:
First Light


Cassiopeia A
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

Cas A is the remnant of a star that exploded about 300 years ago. The X-ray image shows an expanding shell of hot gas produced by the explosion. This gaseous shell is about 10 light years in diameter, and has a temperature of about 50 million degrees.



Multi-wavelength Images: (all images to same scale)
X-ray
Cas A - Chandra X-ray image NASA/CXC/SAO
Jpg (256 k)
Tiff (3.8 MB)
PS (6.4 MB)
Optical Cas A - optical MDM/R. Fesen
Jpg (391 k)
Tif (4.53 MB)
PS (6.3 MB)
Infrared Cas A - infrared ESA/ISO, CAM, P. Lagage et al.
Jpg (66 k)
Tif (1.14 MB)
PS (6.4 MB)
Radio Cas A - radio NRAO/AUI/NSF
Jpg (160 k)
Tif (1.98 MB)
PS (6.4 MB)


Fast Facts for Cassiopeia A:
Credit  NASA/CXC/SAO
Scale  Image is 6 arcmin across.
Category  Supernovas & Supernova Remnants
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 23h 23m 26s | Dec +58° 8´ 53.4"
Constellation  Cassiopeia
Observation Dates  August 19, 1999
Observation Time  1 hours
Obs. IDs  214
Color Code  Intensity
Instrument  ACIS
Also Known As Cas A
Distance Estimate  11,000 light years
Release Date  August 26, 1999