Description: The Corona Australis region is one of the nearest and most active regions of ongoing star formation in our Galaxy. At only 420 light years away, the Coronet is 3.5 times closer than the Orion Nebula Cluster. The Coronet contains a loose cluster of a few dozen known young stars with a wide range of masses at various stages of evolution. The central area of the star-forming region contains the densest clustering of very young stars, embedded in dust and gas. This composite image shows the Coronet in X-rays (Chandra, purple) and infrared emission (Spitzer, orange, green, and cyan). By studying the variability in different energies, scientists hope to better understand the evolution of very young stars.

Creator/Photographer: Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date. The mirrors on Chandra are the largest, most precisely shaped and aligned, and smoothest mirrors ever constructed. Chandra is helping scientists better understand the hot, turbulent regions of space and answer fundamental questions about origin, evolution, and destiny of the Universe. The images Chandra makes are twenty-five times sharper than the best previous X-ray telescope. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra science and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Medium: Chandra telescope x-ray

Date: c. 2000

Persistent URL: chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/coronet/

Repository: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Collection: X-rays Collection - X-rays are electromagnetic radiations beyond ultra-violet which form a shadow image of the internal structure of the object when passed through a solid object and allowed to act upon a sensitive emulsion.

Gift line: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/J.Forbrich et al.;

Infrared: NASA/SSC/CfA/IRAC GTO Team