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: Ring around the Crab After barely two months in space, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has taken a stunning image of the Crab Nebula, the spectacular remains of a stellar explosion, and has revealed something never seen before: a brilliant ring around the nebula's heart. 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: NASA Unveils First-Light Images from Chandra The newest Great Observatory is making an immediate impact with spectacular new views of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant and a distant quasar. Aug. 26, 1999: Studying the Titanium Star When the Chandra X-ray Observatory took its "first light" image, it wasn't looking at just another star shining in the darkness. It was watching a foundry distribute its wares to the rest of the galaxy. Jul. 23, 1999: Why Launch Chandra at Night? Chandra's beautiful early morning launch will place it into an orbit unlike that of NASA's other Great Observatories. Jul. 14, 1999: Countdown to Discovery Science@NASA interviews Martin Weiskopf, Project Scientist for the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Jul. 20, 1999: Chandra has busy observing schedule Dying magnetars, supernovae, and the future of the Universe are on-tap for NASA's next Great Observatory. Jul. 8, 1999: HERO will provide a new view of the X-ray Universe Replication procedure can mass produce high-quality x-ray mirrors for astronomy and other applications. Mar. 26, 1999: Autopsy of an Explosion Scientists may be closer to unraveling the mystery of gamma-ray bursts, thanks to one of the most powerful explosions ever recorded. Feb. 22, 1999: Chandra will target the age of the Universe Astronomers plan X-ray measurements of galaxy clusters for a new measurement of the Hubble Constant. Jan. 27, 1999: GOTCHA! The one that didn't get away. A brilliant gamma ray burst is captured in optical as it's bursting for the first time. And it is bright enough to be seen with binoculars - from halfway across the cosmos. Sep. 21, 1998: Looking for Pulsars in the Fast Lane Scientists are looking for bizarre, short-lived, powerhouse stars that burst with some of the brightest energy in the universe. Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, they hope to find some of the few that may exist. Sep. 9, 1998: Why did the supernova change colors? SN 1993J was seen to be one kind of massive explosion, but then seemed to morph into a distinctly different kind. Scientists using NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, launching in summer '99, think they can discover why. Aug. 17, 1998: How hot is the Crab? NASA's next Great Observatory will take aim at the Crab Nebula pulsar. Magnetars: A whole new kind of object for Chandra See what a spinning, bursting magnetar might look like! Click image for movie. Requires Realvideo player (version 5 or greater). Click to download the free RealVideo Player from RealNetworks, Inc. Star Quakes Magnetars are neutron stars, an extraordinary type of star with a solid crust. Just as the solid surface of Earth can experience earthquakes, the surface of a neutron star can undergo starquakes. In a magnetar, the crust is deformed by magnetic forces and sometimes it cracks. At that instant, pent-up energy is released and seismic waves produce a flash of X-rays. Each time we see a burst from an SGR, we are seeing a starquake in action.

The Mysterious Eta Carina 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 Click for RealVideo of NASA's "First Light" Press Conference Sign up for Express Science News Delivery from Science@NASA Want to ask a question about Chandra? Check out "Chandra Q&A" 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? This illustration of the Crab Nebula and pulsar in different wavelengths shows how different objects in the sky can appear, depending on the window through which one looks. CXO will literally open a new window on the universe, through its unprecedented ability to observe in X-rays. 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. Although we cannot say exactly what unanticipated, major discoveries will come from research with CXO, we do know that we will gain new insight into the nature of how pulsars work and a better understanding of the hot gas that permeates space between galaxies. And, we may get a better understanding of fundamental questions about the universe: How big is it? How fast is it expanding? What is its eventual fate? 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.

Chandra X-Ray Observatory Essential Web-Link List

Chandra X-ray Observatory Education and Public Outreach Page Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA Chandra X-ray Observatory Scientific User Support Page Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center Media Relations Office Chandra Page NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL NASA's Office of Space Science NASA Headquarters, Washington DC

Curator: Bryan Walls NASA Official: Ron Koczor