A supernova remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud

This is a colour-composite image of E0102-72.3 - a supernova remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Chandra X-ray image (blue) shows gas that has been heated to millions of degrees Celsius by a shock wave moving into matter ejected by the supernova. This gas is rich in oxygen and neon. The radio image (red) made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, traces the outward motion of a shock wave due to the motion of extremely high energy electrons. The optical image (green) made with the Hubble Space Telescope, shows dense clumps of oxygen gas that have 'cooled' to about 30,000 degree Celsius.

ATCA radio image by Shaun Amy; X-ray:NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/HST