Chandra Release - May 14, 2008

Visual Description: G1.9+0.3

The composite image of the supernova remnant G1.9+0.3 features two distinct visual components: an X-ray and radio image close-up on the left, and a large field infrared image on the right.  The X-ray and radio image is dominated by a bright, somewhat circular object in the center, in bright blue and orange hues. The infrared image on the right, on the other hand, displays a large and darkly intricate structured area, with a complex network of filaments, dusty areas and tiny stars that appear in shades of brown. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the supernova obtained in early 2007 is shown in orange and the radio image from NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA) from 1985 is in blue. The difference in size between the two images (with the X-ray data looking like orange “headphones” around the radio data’s blue “head”) gives clear evidence for expansion, allowing the time since the original supernova explosion (about 140 years) to be estimated. This is the youngest known supernova remnant in the Galaxy. The supernova explosion occurred close to the center of the Galaxy, and is embedded in a dense field of gas and dust as shown in the infrared image at right is from the Two Micron All Sky survey (2MASS). The center of the galaxy is a bright red spot in the upper right and the location of G1.9+0.3 is shown by a box in the lower left.