X-ray and Infrared Images of G54
Images from the Chandra and Spitzer telescopes show the dusty remains of a collapsed star. The white source at the center is a pulsar that is generating wind of high-energy particles seen by Chandra that expands into the surrounding environment. The infrared shell that surrounds this pulsar wind is made up of gas and dust that condensed out of debris from the supernova explosion. The nature and quantity of dust produced in supernova explosions is a long-standing mystery, and G54.1+0.3 supplies an important piece to the puzzle.
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/P.Slane et al.; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech)