MUSE view of the surroundings of a hidden neutron star in the Small Magellanic Cloud

This new picture from the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile shows how an elusive missing object was found amid a complex tangle of gaseous filaments in one of our nearest neighbouring galaxies, the Small Magellanic Cloud.

The wisps of gas forming the supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219 show up in blue, but the red ring in the MUSE data, revealing glowing neon and oxygen forms, is perfectly centred on an X-ray source — an isolated neutron star with a weak magnetic field, the first identified outside the Milky Way.

Credit:

ESO/F. Vogt et al.

About the Image

Id:eso1810c
Type:Observation
Release date:5 April 2018, 17:00
Related releases:eso1810
Size:909 x 909 px

About the Object

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

Image Formats

Large JPEG
207.0 KB
Screensize JPEG
205.3 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
181.6 KB
1280x1024
272.3 KB
1600x1200
361.1 KB
1920x1200
397.3 KB
2048x1536
519.4 KB

Coordinates

Position (RA):1 4 3.11
Position (Dec):-72° 1' 52.12"
Field of view:1.01 x 1.01 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.0° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
OIII
495 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
OI
777 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
OIII
500 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
V
547 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
R
634 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
I
879 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE
Optical
NeI
640 nmVery Large Telescope
MUSE