Fragments of Titanium Found Blasting Out of a Famous Supernova
Scientists have found fragments of titanium blasting out of a famous supernova. This discovery, made with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, could be a major step…
Chandra X-ray Observatory News
Evidence of “Pulsar Wind Nebula” May Solve 34-Year-Old Astronomical Mystery
Since astronomers captured the bright explosion of a star on February 24, 1987, researchers have been searching for the squashed stellar core that should have…
How Do the Most Massive Stars Explode? Bubbles With Titanium Trigger Titanic Explosions
Astronomers used Chandra to detect an important type of titanium in the supernova remnant Cas A. This titanium is predicted to form in bubbles that…
First Detection of X-rays From Uranus
Astronomers have announced the first detection of X-rays from Uranus. Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, is an ice giant planet in the outer…
NASA Data Sonification Allows You to Hear Majestic Cosmic Objects: Stellar, Galactic, and Black Hole
Astronomical data from three new objects have been translated into sound as part of a data sonification project. The Chandra Deep Field, the Cat’s Eye…
Record-Breaking Jet of Particles Spied From a Supermassive Black Hole in the Early Universe
Astronomers have discovered evidence for an extraordinarily long jet of particles from a supermassive black hole in the early Universe, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory….
Massive X-ray Jet – Extending for 160,000 Light-Years – Spied From Supermassive Black Hole in Early Universe
Astronomers may have discovered the most distant jet emitting X-rays. The source of this jet is a rapidly growing supermassive black hole, or quasar, located…
New Clues to Remains of Star That Exploded Just Outside Our Galaxy
What remains of the star that exploded just outside our galaxy in 1987? Debris has obscured scientists’ view, but two of NASA’s X-ray telescopes have…
Reclusive Neutron Star May Have Been Found in Famous Supernova SN 1987A
Astronomers now have evidence from two X-ray telescopes (Chandra and NuSTAR) for a key component of a famous supernova remnant. Supernova 1987A was discovered on…
Deepening Mystery: Astronomers on the Hunt for a Missing Supermassive Black Hole [Video]
The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of a supermassive black hole has deepened. Despite searching with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have…
Chandra X-ray Observatory Studies Extraordinary Magnetar [Video]
Astronomers recently found the fastest spinning and possibly the youngest magnetar yet. J1818.0-1607 is located about 21,000 light-years away in the Milky Way galaxy. Magnetars…
Chandra Studies Extraordinary Magnetar: Fastest Spinning and Possibly the Youngest Magnetar Known
Astronomers have recently found the fastest spinning and possibly the youngest magnetar known. This object, known as J1818.0-1607, is located about 21,000 light-years away in…
Deepening Astronomical Mystery: On the Hunt for a Missing Giant Black Hole
Astronomers are searching for signs of a supermassive black hole in the galaxy cluster Abell 2261. Nearly all large galaxies contain central black holes, and…
Pareidolia: Seeing Recognizable Shapes in the Cosmos
What is pareidolia? It is the psychological phenomenon where we see recognizable shapes in clouds, rock formations, or otherwise unrelated objects or data. When an image…
Chandra Spots a Cosmic Amethyst in a Dying Star
Chandra has found a bubble of ultra-hot gas at the center of a planetary nebula. Planetary nebulas are formed when Sun-like stars run out of…
“Gravitational Redshift”: Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Critical for GPS, Seen in Distant Stars
What do Albert Einstein, the Global Positioning System (GPS), and a pair of stars 200,000 trillion miles from Earth have in common? The answer is…
The Recipe for Powerful Quasar Jets: Why Some Supermassive Black Holes Launch Powerful Beams
Some supermassive black holes launch powerful beams of material, or jets, away from them, while others do not. Astronomers may now have identified why. Using…
Treasure Trove of Cosmic Delights Revealed by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory
Humanity has “eyes” that can detect all different types of light through telescopes around the globe and a fleet of observatories in space. From radio…