Contact: Megan Watzke
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
617-496-7998
Chandra X-ray Center

Images of Puppis A and RX J0822-4300

Caption: A wide-field composite view of the supernova remnant Puppis A (X-rays from ROSAT in purple, optical data in pink) puts the motion of the neutron star RX J0822-4300 into context. The explosion that created the supernova may have been lop-sided, kicking the neutron star in one direction and much of the debris in the other. The inset shows Chandra observations spanning 5 years that clearly reveals motion over that time. Astronomers calculate that RX J0822-4300 is moving at about 3 million miles per hour, making it one of the fastest moving objects ever observed.

Credit: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al.; ROSAT: NASA/GSFC/S.Snowden et al.; Optical: NOAO/CTIO/Middlebury College/F.Winkler et al.

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