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In the primary image, the spherical cloud resembles a hazy ball of turquoise and neon blue lightning, marbled with veins of gold. The blues represent data from the Chandra Observatory, the turquoise is from NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (called IXPE), and the gold is courtesy of the Hubble Telescope.

X-ray and Optical Images of Cassiopeia A

This release features two composite images of the Cas A supernova remnant, a structure resulting from the explosion of a star in the Cassiopeia constellation. The primary image depicts Cas A as a spherical blue and turquoise cloud streaked with gold. In the supplementary image, below, Cas A is blanketed by short, straight, white and green lines that illustrate the magnetic field across large regions of the remnant. Learn More: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasas-ixpe-helps-unlock-the-secrets-of-famous-exploded-star/

Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO, IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J. Vink et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI
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Image CreditX-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO, IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J. Vink et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI
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