Quintuplet Cluster: Colliding High-Speed Winds Light Up the
Quintuplet Cluster
This
Chandra image presents the first detection of X-rays from stars in
the Quintuplet Cluster, an extremely dense young star cluster near
the Galactic Center. Because dust blocks visible light from
the Galactic Center, the cluster was not discovered until 1990 when
it was detected with an infrared telescope. Named for its five
brightest stars at infrared wavelengths, the Quintuplet is known to
be home to hundreds of stars. Several of these are very massive
stars that are rapidly losing gas from their surfaces in high-speed
stellar winds.
The bright
point-like concentrations of 50 million degree Celsius gas in
Chandra's image are thought to be caused by collisions between the
high-speed winds in massive stars that have closely orbiting
partners. Colliding stellar winds could also explain the diffuse
X-radiation seen between the stars in the Quintuplet. The detection
of radio waves from hot gas in this region provides further evidence
for vigorous heating of gas by winds from massive stars.
Fast Facts for Quintuplet
Cluster: |
Credit |
NASA/CXC/Northwestern
U./C.Law & F.Yusef-Zadeh |
Scale |
Image is 0.6 arcmin per
side |
Categories |
Normal
Stars & Star Clusters Milky
Way |
Coordinates
(J2000) |
RA 17h 46m 14.80s | Dec -28º
49' 49.35" |
Constellation |
Sagittarius
|
Observation
Dates |
July 07, 2000; July 18-19,
2001 |
Observation
Time |
19.7 hours |
Obs.
IDs |
945, 2273, 2276 |
Color
Code |
Intensity |
Instrument |
ACIS |
Distance
Estimate |
26,000 light years |
Reference |
C. Law & F. Yusef-Zadeh,
2004, astro-ph/0404544 (to appear in Astrophys. J.).
|
Release
Date |
July 28, 2004
| | |