To celebrate the 15th anniversary of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, four new images of supernova remnants are being released. These spectacular cosmic vistas are the glowing debris fields that were created when massive stars exploded at the ends of their lives.
Image Credit:
NASA
Fifteen years ago, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Since its deployment on July 23, 1999, Chandra has helped revolutionize our understanding of the universe through its unrivaled X-ray vision.
Chandra, one of NASA's current "Great Observatories," along with the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, is specially designed to detect X-ray emission from hot and energetic regions of the universe.
With its superb sensitivity and resolution, Chandra has observed objects ranging from the closest planets and comets to the most distant known quasars. It has imaged the remains of exploded stars, or supernova remnants, observed the region around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, and discovered black holes across the universe. Chandra also has made a major advance in the study of dark matter by tracing the separation of dark matter from normal matter in collisions between galaxy clusters. It also is contributing to research on the nature of dark energy.
To celebrate Chandra's 15th anniversary, four new images of supernova remnants – the Crab Nebula, Tycho, G292.0+1.8, and 3C58 – are being released. These supernova remnants are very hot and energetic and glow brightly in X-ray light, which allows Chandra to capture them in exquisite detail.
"Chandra changed the way we do astronomy. It showed that precision observation of the X-rays from cosmic sources is critical to understanding what is going on," said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division director in Washington. "We're fortunate we've had 15 years – so far – to use Chandra to advance our understanding of stars, galaxies, black holes, dark energy, and the origin of the elements necessary for life."
Chandra orbits far above Earth's X-ray absorbing atmosphere at an altitude up to 139,000 km (86,500 mi), allowing for long observations unobscured by Earth's shadow. When it was carried into space in 1999, it was the largest satellite ever launched by the shuttle.
"We are thrilled at how well Chandra continues to perform," said Belinda Wilkes, director of the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "The science and operations teams work very hard to ensure that Chandra delivers its astounding results, just as it has for the past decade and a half. We are looking forward to more ground-breaking science over the next decade and beyond."
Originally called the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), the telescope was first proposed to NASA in 1976. Prior to its launch aboard the shuttle, the observatory was renamed in honor of the late Indian-American Nobel laureate, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Known to the world as Chandra (which means "moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit), he was widely regarded as one of the foremost astrophysicists of the 20th century.
"Chandra continues to be one of the most successful missions that NASA has ever flown as measured against any metric – cost, schedule, technical success and, most of all, scientific discoveries," said Martin Weisskopf, Chandra Project Scientist at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "It has been a privilege to work on developing and maintaining this scientific powerhouse, and we look forward to many years to come."
To help celebrate this anniversary, Chandra scientists – including former CXC Director, Harvey Tananbaum – will participate in a Google+ Hangout July 22 beginning at 3 p.m. EDT. For more information on this event, visit:
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations.
For Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit:
Additional information on Chandra and the 15th anniversary can be found at:
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el dispensador dice:
hay un cielo que te acompaña,
del que dependen tus mañanas,
hay un cielo que vibra en silencio,
mientras caminas por tus sueños,
pero hay un cielo que no ves,
tan lejano y tan cercano,
que no depende de los deseos,
que no está al alcance de la mano,
que necesitas de tu alma... para poder andarlo...
hay un universo visible,
pero hay otro que se ubica allende,
lejano a cualquier pensamiento,
distante de todo sentimiento,
existe por traducción del verbo,
y cada uno de sus pronunciamientos,
siguiendo un sentido eterno,
que contiene propio orden,
en un debate entre equilibrios,
y distintos sentidos del desorden,
adquiriendo un sentido único,
más allá de los hechos del hombre...
en el universo invisible,
intangible a los sentidos humanos,
inalcanzable mediante desesperos y manos,
existen cuerdas y espacios,
geometrías de puentes y lazos,
luces tejiendo todo lo que une a lo que flota derivando,
siguiendo un orden "ordenado",
matemáticamente diseñado,
para sostenerse a sí mismo,
en un equilibrio que ata,
pasados... presentes... futuros...
tiempos en los que nadie ha pensado,
porque el hombre es en esencia efímero,
mientras el diapasón sigue vibrando...
no todo ha sido escrito,
y nada ha sido descubierto,
hay pocas almas entre los vivos,
pero abundan entre los muertos,
porque todo es cuestión de umbrales,
de dimensiones y oráculos abiertos...
te aseguro que nada has visto,
si no has recorrido el universo,
para el cual no hay palabras,
que se transformen en prosa,
ni tampoco en versos...
hay portales que permanecen cerrados,
porque nunca han sido abiertos,
y todo es cuestión de almas,
donde nada es cuestión de cuerpos,
si no sabes de sentidos y formas,
permanecerás vagando siempre... en tus propios desiertos.
JULIO 23, 2014.-
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