X-Ray Pleiades
Explanation:
The Pleiades star cluster is one of the
jewels of the
northern sky.
To the
unaided eye it appears as
a lovely and tantalizing grouping of stars in
the constellation of Taurus,
while telescopic views reveal cluster stars
surrounded by delicate blue wisps of dust-reflected starlight.
To the X-ray telescopes
onboard the orbiting
ROSAT observatory,
the cluster also presents an impressive -
but slightly altered - appearance.
This color image was produced from ROSAT observations
by translating different
X-ray energy bands to visual colors - the lowest energies are shown
in red, medium in green, and highest energies in blue.
(The green boxes mark the position of the
seven brightest visual stars.)
The Pleiades stars seen in X-rays have extremely hot, tenuous
outer atmospheres called
coronas and
the range of colors corresponds to different
coronal temperatures.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
