Science@NASA
presents The Chandra X-Ray Observatory Science News from X-ray Astronomy and the Chandra X-ray Observatory |
Science Stories From X-ray Astronomy Sep. 28, 1999:
Visit the Chandra Multimedia Library, with on-line video, animation, and images of the observatory, how it works, and interviews with key scientists. More Science News Aug. 26, 1999:
Aug. 26, 1999:
Jul. 14, 1999:
Jul. 20, 1999:
Jul. 8, 1999: Mar. 26, 1999: Feb. 22, 1999: Jan. 27, 1999: Sep. 21, 1998: Sep. 9, 1998: Magnetars: A whole new kind of object for Chandra
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Just three years ago the Hubble Space Telescope provided a dazzling image of a star that was blowing off massive quantities of material in a blast that looked like a supernova yet, mysteriously, wasn't one. Now the Chandra X-ray Observatory has looked at Eta Carina and showed details that are, well, shocking. For more information and images please see the Science@NASA headline "Chandra Takes X-ray Image of Repeat Offender." Above: Chandra has revealed unexpected structures around the nova at the center of Eta Carina. The colors are artificial to help the viewer sort out details and structure. Links to 512x512-pixel, 82KB JPG. Credit: Chandra Science Center and NASA. Credit: NASA and Chandra Science Center
No one greeted the first images from the world's most powerful X-ray telescope with greater anticipation than the scientist who's spent 22 years helping to make it all possible. Dr. Martin Weisskopf of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is the project scientist for the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Responsible for the scientific integrity of the program, he's spent every day of his life for two decades "breathing it." On joining the project in 1977, Weisskopf took out a piece of paper and wrote his estimate when the telescope would launch: the year 2000. "I did not expect it to go fast," he says today. "We've actually exceeded my expectations." Chandra was launched in July. Since committing his prediction to paper, Weisskopf saw his children grow up, watched them have children, and held on to that piece of paper. Read an in-depth discussion about Chandra with Dr. Weisskopf from Science@NASA. What can we expect to learn from NASA's newest Great Observatory? No one can predict the future, especially in scientific research.
Sir Isaac Newton realized at the time of his research that if
you threw an object fast enough, it would continue to fall around
the Earth, never hitting the ground. However, had he predicted
that entire nations would pool their resources, exploiting this
fact, to hurtle humans and spaceships on million-mile voyages
of discovery, he likely would have been seen as a bit crazy.
When Michael Faraday demonstrated the remarkable new discovery
of electricity to the King, he was asked "What good is this?"
Faraday replied that he didn't know, but some day he was sure
governments would tax it. (That was reason enough for the King,
apparently.) When asked about the benefits of fundamental research,
Benjamin Franklin is reported to have replied "What good
is a newborn baby?" These scientists were not being vague
or obtuse, they were being honest. We can get a sense of what lies ahead by comparing the advances that have been made in closely related areas of NASA research through the deployment of similar state-of-the-art facilities in space. The parallel that we can draw for what will happen with Chandra, based on what has happened through the development, launch, and operation of her sister-observatories in astrophysics, only heightens the excitement and anticipation of astronomers and physicists everywhere. In 1990 and 1991, NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, respectively, to perform uninterrupted astrophysics research from space. Like the International Space Station will be for microgravity science, these two spacecraft are state-of-the-art facilities that operate around the clock, giving astronomers the ability to continuously perform observations and test scientific theories of the universe. Together, in less than ten years, Compton and Hubble have help to rewrite many chapters of astronomy textbooks regarding subjects like black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and the expansion and fate of the Universe. The enigma of planet birth is beginning to lose its mystery as a direct result of Hubble observations. Hubble has also provided unprecedented, accurate measurements of distances to the farthest galaxies, giving scientists a necessary parameter in the quest to determine the fate of the universe. We have seen Gamma-ray bursts, discovered by accident in the late 1960's, were thought to be mild eruptions occurring nearby in our own galaxy. The burst experiment on the Compton Observatory has instead shown that these are gargantuan explosions of energy coming from the deepest recesses of the universe, spewing more energy in ten seconds than our Sun emits in its entire ten-billion-year lifetime. We know what new, advanced, state-of-the-art facilities, operating continuously in space can do for science. We have seen what Hubble and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory have done - so far - for astronomy. And we have every expectation that the science provided by Chandra will be every bit as revolutionary. |
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Curator: Bryan Walls |