CfA Celebrates 25 Years with the Chandra X-ray Observatory
These images were released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Chandra. They represent the wide range of objects that the telescope has observed over its quarter century of observations. X-rays are an especially penetrating type of light that reveals extremely hot objects and very energetic physical processes. The images range from supernova remnants, like Cassiopeia A, to star-formation regions like the Orion Nebula, to the region at the center of the Milky Way. This montage also contains objects beyond our own Galaxy including other galaxies and galaxy clusters.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its launch, the Chandra X-ray Observatory is releasing 25 never-before-seen views of a wide range of cosmic objects.
These images, which all show data from Chandra, demonstrate how X-ray astronomy explores all corners of the Universe. By combining X-rays from Chandra with other space-based observatories and telescopes on the ground, astronomers can tackle the biggest questions and investigate long-standing mysteries across the cosmos.
“Chandra’s imagery and data has inspired people of all ages to think about what can be found when we look up into outer space,” said Ellen Stofan, Under Secretary for Science and Research at the Smithsonian. “Chandra continues to provide X-ray eyes to allow us to better understand our place in the universe.”
On July 23, 1999, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched into orbit carrying Chandra, which was then the heaviest payload ever carried by the Shuttle. With Commander Eileen Collins at the helm, the astronauts aboard Columbia successfully deployed Chandra into its highly-elliptical orbit that takes it nearly one-third of the distance to the Moon.
“We are proud of our history, excited about the present, and looking forward to the future of X-ray astronomy,” said Lisa Kewley, Director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian that includes SAO. “Chandra is a living legacy that will continue to help us explore the Universe hopefully for years to come.”
X-rays are an especially penetrating type of light that reveals extremely hot objects and very energetic physical processes. Many fascinating regions in space glow strongly in X-rays such as the debris from exploded stars and material swirling around black holes. Stars, galaxies, and even planets also give off X-rays that can be studied with Chandra.
SAO has been a leader in X-ray astronomy since the field’s inception several decades ago and continues to be as it operates Chandra today on behalf of NASA. It also looks to be at the forefront of the next generation X-ray telescopes.
“For a quarter century, Chandra has made discovery after amazing discovery,” said Pat Slane, Director of the Chandra X-ray Center located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Mass. “Astronomers have used Chandra to investigate mysteries that we didn’t even know about when we were building the telescope – including exoplanets and dark energy.”
In 1976, SAO’s Riccardo Giacconi, who would win the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in X-ray astronomy, and Harvey Tananbaum first proposed to NASA the mission that would one day become Chandra. Eventually, Chandra was selected to become one of NASA’s “Great Observatories,” along with the Hubble Space Telescope, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope, each looking at different types of light.
Today, astronomers continue to use Chandra data in conjunction with other powerful telescopes including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and many more. For example, in the last year, Chandra work with JWST has led to the discovery of evidence for two of the most distant black holes ever seen (reported here and here) and work with IXPE has revealed the “bones” of a ghostly cosmic hand, in studying an X-ray nebula created by a pulsar
Chandra science has led to over 700 Ph.Ds and has supported a diverse talent pool of more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students, about 1,700 postdocs and over 5,000 unique Principal Investigators throughout the U.S. and worldwide. Demand for the telescope has consistently been extremely high throughout the entire mission, with only about 20% of the requested observing time able to be approved.
The new set of images is a sample of the almost 25,000 observations Chandra has taken during its quarter century in space. Scientists have written over 10,000 peer-reviewed and accepted papers based on Chandra data, gathering almost half a million citations. This makes it one of the most productive NASA missions in astrophysics, consistent with its excellent ranking in the most recent Senior Review (NASA’s “highest form of peer review”), conducted in 2022 by an independent panel of scientists.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge, Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. Northrop Grumman Space Technologies in Redondo Beach, California was the prime contractor for the spacecraft.
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