Chandra Release - June 1, 2006

Visual Description: J0617 in IC 443

An X-ray image of supernova remnant IC443 is shown, featuring a large blue and green nebula in the center of it. The nebula is surrounded by stars and has an irregular circular shape all situated on a dark red and black textured background.  Neutron star J0617 is located at the center of the nebula. Neutron stars are incredibly dense celestial objects that form from the remnants of supernova explosions. They are among the most compact objects in the universe, with diameters of only about 10 miles (16 kilometers) and masses several times greater than that of Earth's sun. In this image, neutron star J0617 is pulled out to show a closer view and serves as the focal point of the image.  It resembles a little blue-green fish swimming in a sea of red and green algae and seaweed.  The nebula surrounding Neutron star J0617 is made up of gas and dust, which glows brightly in X-rays due to its interaction with the high-energy radiation emitted by the neutron star. The wide-field composite image was made with X-ray data (cyan, from ROSAT & Chandra), radio data (green from the Very Large Array), and optical data (red, from the Digitized Sky Survey) observations of the supernova remnant IC 443. The pullout shows the Chandra X-ray Observatory close-up with the radio and optical data, and depicts the neutron star that is spewing out a comet-like wake of high-energy particles as it races through space.