The Cartwheel ring under X-ray light

The Cartwheel, archetypical ring galaxy with strong star formation activity concentrated in a peculiar annular structure, has been imaged with the CHANDRA ACIS-S instrument. We present here preliminary results, that confirm the high luminosity detected earlier with the ROSAT HRI. Many bright isolated sources are visible in the star-forming ring. A diffuse component at luminosity of the order of 10E.40 cgs is also detected.