Explanation:
A mere 6,000 light-years distant and sailing through the constellation
Vela,
star cluster RCW 38
is full of powerful stars.
It's no surprise that these stars,
only a million years young with hot outer atmospheres,
appear as
point-like x-ray sources dotting
this
x-ray image from the orbiting
Chandra
Observatory.
But the diffuse cloud of x-rays surrounding them is a bit
mysterious.
The image is color coded by x-ray energy, with high energies
in blue, medium in green, and low energy x-rays in red.
Just a few light-years across, the cloud
which pervades the cluster has colors suggesting
the x-rays
are produced by high energy electrons
moving
through magnetic fields.
Yet a source of energetic electrons, such as shockwaves
from exploding stars (supernova remnants),
or rotating neutron stars
(pulsars),
is not apparent in the Chandra data.
Whatever their origins, the energetic particles could leave an imprint on
planetary systems forming in young star cluster RCW 38, just
as nearby energetic
events seem to have affected the chemistry and
isotopes found in our own solar system.
