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Q&A: Chandra Mission

Q:
The X-ray image of Orion Nebula seems to have a large cross in its center, as if it was formed by 4 quadrants. Why is that?

A:
Orion Nebula
Orion Nebula
The cross in the image is an instrumental artifact due to the arrangement of the CCD chips in the imaging array of the ACIS detector. See http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/science_instruments.html Some images do not show this effect because the image is entirely on one chip.


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