The Chandra X-ray Space Telescope began its journey on July 23, 1999. The orbital telescope was launched on the Space Shuttle. Columbia Chandra is named after astrophysicist Subramanian Chandrasekhar. Although it was initially planned to operate for only five years, it has been floating in space for 25 years, transmitting useful scientific insights and becoming a reliable source of information for astronomy research.
To celebrate Chandra’s 25th anniversary, NASA has released 25 new images made from data from the X-ray Observatory. NASA is also providing vivid descriptions of the images to help you understand the scale of Chandra’s incredible deep space observations.
In this composite image of Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun is surrounded by neon purple blobs against the darkness of space. Jupiter is in sharp focus here. More than a dozen swirling bands of gas flow across its surface, each with a different texture and shade of gray. The gas giant is surrounded by a thin sky-blue ring, the same color as the large storm swirling on its surface at the lower right. The top edge of Jupiter, tilted slightly to the right of center, is also home to a neon purple band. Similar, smaller neon purple lines are found on Jupiter’s bottom edge. These purple bands over the planet’s magnetic poles represent X-ray auroras, which occur when high-energy particles collide with gas in the planet’s atmosphere. On either side of Jupiter, large hazy blobs of neon purple, some of which are larger than the gas giant itself. These purple clouds, like the auroras, represent the X-rays observed by Chandra. Images: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI, Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major, S. WolkThis composite image shows the remnants of a supernova explosion as a neon purple mushroom at the center of a colorful web of veins and filaments. A dark blue and red veined gas cloud known as the Crab Nebula sets against the darkness of space. At the center of the nebula is a pulsar, a spinning neutron star that emits electromagnetic radiation. In this image, the pulsar appears as a bright white dot in the neon purple cloud. There are white rings around the dot. These are created when particles blasted from the pulsar collide with gas in the nebula and produce X-rays. From this angle, the ring and purple cloud combine to look like a mushroom cap. Completing the mushroom look is a thin mushroom stalk extending from the white dot. This is a thin beam of particles blasted from the pulsar. Images: X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC, Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI, Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand and L. FrattareThis composite image shows a star-forming region known as the Pillars of Creation, where a long column of gray gas and dust emerges from the bottom edge of the image and stretches toward the upper right. Set against a backdrop of dark orange and pink mist, the cloud-like gray pillar is fringed by dozens of softly glowing dots in white, red, blue, yellow and purple. These dots are young stars that emit X-rays and infrared light. In the swirling turbulent gas and dust, the pillar tilts to the right, with smaller branches pointing in the same direction. The misty glow, colorful stars and lifelike gray dust combine to create an image that resembles a twilight cloud creature reaching out to something just outside the frame. Images: X-ray: NASA/CXO/SAO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Imaging: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. FrattareIn this composite image, several pink and white stars shine through a layer of murky clouds. These are young stars detected by Chandra. At the lower right, an opaque cloud resembling a striped slug rises from the murky brown mist. Blue and gray clouds stretch from the lower left to the upper right. Near the upper right corner, two long black triangles appear to jut out from the central bright star. These triangles are actually the shadows of a young star, projected into the distant blue and gray clouds. The phenomenon has been nicknamed “Bat Shadows” because of its eerie resemblance to Batman’s call sign against Gotham’s cloudy skies. Images: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI, Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. MajorIn this composite image, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Centaurus A galaxy spits huge jets of particles into the star-packed sky. In this image, Centaurus A appears as an inky purple cloud riding on a translucent red cloud. At the center of this composite cloud structure is the black hole, a bright white dot that lights the cloud from within. The jet originates from this dot, shooting speckled rays of white and purple light toward the upper left. Surrounding the entire galaxy is a faint translucent blue bubble shape, most noticeable at the lower right. The bubble was produced by a jet from the black hole. Both the jet and the bubble were detected by Chandra.MAGIC: X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC; Optical: ESO; Imaging: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand, J. MajorIn this composite image, a large spiral galaxy loses some of its hot gas to a smaller nearby galaxy. NGC 6872, in the center of the frame, is a large spiral galaxy with two long, thin arms stretching to the upper right and lower left. Near the white dot at the galaxy’s center, neon purple clouds stain the arms, with steely blue tips. The purple represents hot gas detected by Chandra. To the upper left of NGC 6872 is a second spiral galaxy. Its spiral arms are much smaller, but the bright white dot at its center is very large, suggesting a supermassive black hole. Some of the steely blue material and gas from NGC 6872’s lower arm appears to be drifting toward the smaller galaxy, likely attracted by the supermassive black hole. Images: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI, Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt, L. Frattare, J. MajorThis composite image shows a double star cluster, bluish clouds, and several neon purple dots. The double star cluster is part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to the Milky Way. The bright gold stars of the large cluster occupy the top center of the image. The other star cluster is much smaller and coincides with one of the neon purple circles slightly above and to the right of the center of the image. This circle and the other purple circles are X-ray sources detected by Chandra. To the left of the composite cluster is a vertical streak of bluish clouds. Portions of this cloud, which extend beyond the top and bottom edges of the image, look like smoke drifting from a cigarette.Imagery: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; infrared: NASA/JPL/CalTech/Spitzer; image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major, K. ArcandIn this composite image, the pulsar, pulsar wind nebula, and low-energy X-ray cloud combine to create the uncanny sight of a skeletal hand reaching for a glowing ember. The hand reaches out from the bottom of the image, its ghostly blue flesh and white bone representing the X-rays of the pulsar wind nebula observed by Chandra. The bright white dot on the wrist is the pulsar itself. Just beyond the fingertips of the hand, near the upper right, is a mottled yellow-orange shape that appears to be glowing from within. This is the low-energy X-ray cloud observed by Chandra. Images: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, Optical: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DECaPS, Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. SchmidtAstronomers call this star-forming region in the nearby Carina Nebula a “cosmic cliff.” This composite image shows two star clusters seen through a tunnel of swirling gold clouds. The clouds form a border around the entire image, like a thick, swirling smoke ring. Beyond that, in the central open field, is a field of neon purple specks. These specks are the young stars observed by Chandra. Separate swirls of pale, steely blue mist within the central region suggest two clusters of stars. One is near the upper right; the other is near the lower left, partially obscured by a golden yellow ring cloud. Images: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ludwig Maximilian Univ./T. Preibisch et al.; infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. WolkRenowned astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered the planetary nebula HB 5, the terminal stage of a Sun-like star. This composite image of the planetary nebula HB 5 resembles a bulbous bow tie with mottled purple. At the center of the nebula, or the knot of the bow tie, is a glowing golden-white explosion. This is a Sun-like star nearing the end of its life. To the left and right of it are bulbous spheres of swirling purple gas. Each gas sphere is several times larger than the exploding knot between them. The nebula also contains faint clouds of neon blue and mustard yellow. The most prominent blue cloud at the top left represents the X-rays observed by Chandra. The mustard yellow clouds surrounding the exploding star represent radio waves observed by ALMA. Images: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO, Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI, Radio: NSF/ESO/NRAO/ALMA, Imaging: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand, J. MajorThe Crab Nebula is the result of a bright supernova explosion witnessed by astronomers in China and elsewhere in 1054 AD. Chandra observed a ring around the pulsar and jets spewing out into space. This composite image shows the neon purple mushroom-like remnants of the supernova explosion at the center of a colorful web of veins and filaments. A gas cloud with dark blue and red veins backs the darkness of space. At the center of the nebula is a pulsar, a rotating neutron star that emits electromagnetic radiation. In this image, the pulsar appears as a bright white dot in the neon purple cloud. There are white rings around the dot. These are produced when particles expelled from the pulsar collide with gas in the nebula and produce X-rays. From this angle, the ring and purple cloud combine to look like a mushroom cap. Completing the mushroom look is a thin mushroom stalk extending from the white dot. This is a thin beam of particles emanating from the pulsar. Images: X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC, Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI, Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand and L. Frattare
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