An isolated neutron star in the Small Magellanic Cloud

This new picture created from images from telescopes on the ground and in space tells the story of the hunt for an elusive missing object hidden amid a complex tangle of gaseous filaments in one of our nearest neighbouring galaxies, the Small Magellanic Cloud.

The reddish background image comes from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and reveals the wisps of gas forming the supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219 in green. The red ring with a dark centre is from the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the blue and purple images are from the NASA Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The blue spot at the centre of the red ring is an isolated neutron star with a weak magnetic field, the first identified outside the Milky Way.

Credit:

ESO/NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)/F. Vogt et al.

Acknowledgments: Mahdi Zamani

About the Image

Id:eso1810a
Type:Observation
Release date:5 April 2018, 17:00
Related releases:eso1810
Size:1510 x 1509 px

About the Object

Name:1E 0102.2-7219
Type:Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star
Constellation:Tucana
Category:Stars

Image Formats

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Coordinates

Position (RA):1 4 3.09
Position (Dec):-72° 1' 52.10"
Field of view:1.01 x 1.01 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.1° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
X-ray
0.5-1.2 keV
1.75 nmChandra X-ray Observatory
ACIS
X-ray
2.0-7.0 keV
0.398 nmChandra X-ray Observatory
ACIS
X-ray
1.2-2.0 keV
0.826 nmChandra X-ray Observatory
ACIS
Optical
OIII
495 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
OIII
500 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
OI
777 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
OII
373 nmHubble Space Telescope
WFC3
Optical
MgII
280 nmHubble Space Telescope
WFC3
Infrared
OIII
502 nmHubble Space Telescope
WFC3
Optical
z
850 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
V
550 nmHubble Space Telescope
WFC3
Optical
H-Alpha + NIII
657 nmHubble Space Telescope
WFC3
Optical
NII
658 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS
Optical
NeI
640 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
SII
673 nmHubble Space Telescope
WFC3
Optical
i
775 nmHubble Space Telescope
ACS