Chandra Release - May 26, 2003

Visual Description: TW Hydrae

This graphic contains an artist's conception and Chandra spectra (X-ray energies over different wavelengths) of two young star systems named TW Hydrae and HD 98800A. The artist’s concepts of the two celestial objects up top are in different shades of red and orange. The illustration shows TW Hydrae (left) and HD 98800A (right), which formed about 10 million years ago. Chandra observations of their X-ray spectra (below in red for TW Hydrae and blue for HD 98800A) revealed that, although the stars were both formed in the same region of space at the same time, they produce X-rays by different mechanisms. Of particular interest in the spectra are three successively smaller peaks labeled r, i, and f. These peaks, due to X-rays from neon atoms that have lost all but two of their ten orbital electrons, are sensitive indicators of the density and temperature in the hot, X-ray emitting gas in the star systems.