Chandra images: DB clusters and Beta Ceti
Sun Jan 2, 2005 at 14:11 UTC
DB01-42, DB00-58 & DB00-6: Stars of Wonder, Stars of Infrared and X-ray LightA new montage shows three clusters of bright, young stars in X-ray (blue) and infrared (green) light that lie in the direction of the center of the Galaxy. Like many stars in the disk of the Galaxy, they are difficult, if not impossible, to see with an optical telescope because of interstellar dust that blocks the visible light. Read more and view images.
Giant Star's Corona Brightens with Age
Beta Ceti is a bright, giant star with a hot corona that radiates about 2,000 times more X-ray power than the Sun. Scientists suspect that this X-ray activity is somehow related to its advanced stage of evolution called core helium burning. During this stage, the core of the star is very hot (more than a hundred million degrees Celsius) and converting helium to carbon via nuclear fusion reactions. Read more and view images.
