Supernova remnant N132D,infrared and X-ray image. X-rays are purple,while various types of infrared light are red,green and blue. A supernova is the explosive death of a massive star,resulting in an expanding shell of gas and dust known as a supernova remnant. Here the supernova remnant,the hot shell of gas,is pink. The surrounding gas and dust contains PAHs (polyaromatic hydrocarbons,green). The background stars (blue) are seen in infrared light. N132D is 163,000 light years from Earth,in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. This image was obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) |