Kepler’s Supernova Remnant: Views from Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer

These images represent views of Kepler's supernova remnant taken in X-rays, visible light, and infrared radiation.

Each top panel shows the entire remnant. Each color in this image represents a different region of the electromagnetic spectrum, from X-rays to infrared light. The X-ray and infrared data cannot be seen with the human eye. Astronomers have color-coded those data so they can be seen in these images.

The bottom panels are close-up views of the remnant. The region seen in these images is outlined in the top row of pictures. In the bottom, center image, Hubble sees fine details in the brightest, densest areas of gas.

The images indicate that the bubble of gas that makes up the supernova remnant appears different in various types of light. Chandra reveals the hottest gas [colored blue and colored green], which radiates in X-rays. The blue color represents the higher-energy gas; the green, the lower-energy gas. Hubble shows the brightest, densest gas [colored yellow], which appears in visible light. Spitzer unveils heated dust [colored red], which radiates in infrared light.

About the data

Chandra Data This image was created from Chandra observations from proposal 01500022: S. Holt (F.W. Olin College of Engineering), U. Hwang, R. Petre, and M. Corcoran (GSFC), E. Gotthelf (Columbia Astrophysics Lab), G. Allen (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech.), J. Keohane (North Carolina).

The science team using this data is: R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins Univ.), T. DeLaney (U. Minnesota and Harvard-Smithsonian/Center for Astrophysics), L. Rudnick and J. A. Ennis (U. Minnesota), I. Harrus (Goddard Space Flight Center).

Hubble Data This image was created from Hubble observations from proposal 9731: : R. Sankrit and W. Blair (Johns Hopkins Univ.), L. Rudnick (U. Minnesota), T. DeLaney (U. Minnesota and Harvard-Smithsonian/Center for Astrophysics), I. Harrus (Goddard Space Flight Center).

Spitzer Data This image was created from Spitzer observations from proposal 3413: W. Blair, R. Sankrit, and P. Ghavamian (Johns Hopkins Univ.), K. Borkowski and S. Reynolds (North Carolina State Univ.), and K. Long (Space Telescope Science Inst.).