Cassiopeia A

https://www.nrao.edu/archives/plugins/Dropbox/files/CassA_RGB2002_hi.jpg

Description

Cassiopeia A is the remnant of a supernova explosion that occured over 300 years ago in our Galaxy, at a distance of about 11,000 light years from us. Its name is derived from the constellation in which it is seen: Cassiopeia, the Queen. A supernova is the explosion that occurs at the end of a massive star's life; and Cassiopeia A is the expanding shell of material that remains from such an explosion. This radio image of Cassiopeia A was created with the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array telescope in New Mexico. This image was made at 3 different frequencies: 1.4 GHz (L band), 5.0 GHz (C band), and 8.4 GHz (X band). Cassiopeia A is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky, and has been a popular target of study for radio astronomers for decades. The material that was ejected from the supernova explosion can be seen in this image as bright filaments.

Creator

Legacy Astronomical Images

Rights

NRAO/AUI/NSF does not hold full copyright for this image. Contact the archivist for details.

Type

Legacy Astronomical Image

Object Name

Cassiopeia A

Investigators

L. Rudnick, T. Delaney, J. Keohane & B. Koralesky

Telescope

Very Large Array (VLA)

Observation Date

1994-03-25

Type of Observation

continuum

Center of Image

RA 23:21:13.000, Dec: 58:32:35.000 (B1950)

Field of View

0.100000 x 0.100000 degrees

Notes

Contact the archivist for a high resolution tif of this image.

Series

Galactic Sources Series

Unit

Supernova Remnants Unit

Citation

Legacy Astronomical Images, “Cassiopeia A,” NRAO/AUI Archives, accessed March 28, 2024, https://www.nrao.edu/archives/items/show/33522.