Chandra | Universe Today

A Chandra X-ray Observatory image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. Credit: NASA/CXC

Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) has always been an enigma. While the explosion that created this supernova was obviously a powerful event, the visual brightness of the outburst that occurred over 300 years ago was much less than a normal supernova, — and in fact, was overlooked in the 1600's — and astronomers don't know why. Another mystery is whether the explosion that produced Cas A left behind a neutron star, black hole, or nothing at all. But in 1999, astronomers discovered an unknown bright object at the core of Cas A. Now, new observations with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory show this object is a neutron star. But the enigmas don't end there: this neutron star has a carbon atmosphere. This is the first time this type of atmosphere has been detected around such a small, dense object.
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Chandra has done it again in creating some of the most visually stunning images of our Universe. This time, Chandra's X-ray eyes show a dramatic new vista of the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This mosaic from 88 different images exposes new levels of the complexity and intrigue in the Galactic center, providing a look at stellar evolution, from bright young stars to black holes, in a crowded, hostile environment dominated by a central, supermassive black hole.
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Combining data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Spitizer Space Telescope allowed astronomers to create this gorgeous new image of Cepheus B. Besides being incredible eye candy, the new image also provides fresh insight into how some stars are born. The research shows that radiation from massive stars may trigger the formation of many more stars than previously thought.
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Ten years ago, on July 23, 1999, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was deployed into orbit by the space shuttle Columbia.  Far exceeding its intened 5-year life span, Chandra has demonstrated an unrivaled ability to create high-resolution X- ray images, and enabled astronomers to investigate phenomena as diverse as comets, black holes, dark matter and dark energy.

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The Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost" lurking around a distant supermassive black hole. Astronomers think this high-energy apparition is evidence of a huge eruption produced by the black hole. But this blue blob looks eerily similar to another cosmic blob of gas found by Galaxy Zoo member Hanny Van Arkel, the famous object called Hanny's Voorwerp. Could the two objects be similar?
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25 years ago, astronomers discovered diffuse X-ray emissions coming from the plane of the Milky Way, but were puzzled by the source of those emissions. The mystery has now been solved by an international team of astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. These diffuse emissions do not originate from one single source but from white dwarf stars and stars with active outer gas layers.
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The Chandra X-ray observatory has taken a closer look at the galaxy Centaurus A, and new images have revealed in detail the effects of a shock wave blasting through the galaxy. Powerful jets of plasma emanating from a supermassive black hole at the galactic core are creating the shock wave, and the new observation, have enabled astronomers to revise dramatically their picture of how jets affect the galaxies in which they live.
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This is a quiz.

This X-ray nebula pictured above measures 150 light-years across. At its center is a very young and powerful pulsar known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short.

How big is the pulsar?

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It may be old, but it ain't dead. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has found the oldest isolated pulsar ever detected. While this pulsar is ancient, this exotic object is still kicking and is surprisingly active. According to radio observations, the pulsar, PSR J0108-1431 (J0108 for short) is about 200 million years old. Among isolated pulsars — ones that have not been spun-up in a binary system — it is over 10 times older than the previous record holder. A team of astronomers led by George Pavlov of Penn State University observed J0108 in X-rays with Chandra, and found that it glows much brighter in X-rays than was expected for a pulsar of such advanced years.

At a distance of 770 light years, it is also one of the nearest pulsars we know of.
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So how do you take the temperature of one of the most exotic objects in the Universe? A neutron star (~1.35 to 2.1 solar masses, measuring only 24 km across) is the remnant of a supernova after a large star has died. Although they are not massive enough become a black hole, neutron stars still accrete matter, pulling gas from a binary partner, often undergoing prolonged periods of flaring.

Fortunately, we can observe X-ray flares (using instrumentation such as Chandra), but it isn't the flare itself that can reveal the temperature or structure of a neutron star.

At the AAS conference last week, details about the results from an X-ray observing campaign of MXB 1659-29, a quasi-persistent X-ray transient source (i.e. a neutron star that flares for long periods), revealed some fascinating insights to the physics of neutron stars, showing that as the crust of a neutron star cools, the crustal composition is revealed and the temperature of these exotic supernova remnants can be measured…
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In September, it was announced the Chandra X-ray Observatory had spotted something very odd about BD+20 307. The binary system appeared to have a dusty disk surrounding it, indicative of a young, planet-forming system a fraction of the age of the Solar System. However, it was well known that the binary was actually several billion years old. It turns out that this disk was created by a rare planetary event; a cataclysmic planetary collision.

On Wednesday, at the AAS conference in Long Beach, I attended the "Extrasolar Planets" session to listen in on more results from Hubble about the exciting exoplanet discoveries in November… however, for me, the most captivating talk was about the strange, dusty old binary and the future detective work to be carried out to track down a planet killer…
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Want to know what it's like to fly through a supernova remnant? Then, THIS, you have to see. You'll be able to experience SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) as never before, and see it across both time and space. Another time lapse animation shows the remnant's expansion and changes over time, and still another provides a 3-D model of Cas A. Almost ten years ago, Chandra's "First Light" image of Cas A revealed previously unseen structures and detail, and now, after eight years of observation, scientists have been able to construct these incredible animations which were presented at today's American Astronomical Society meeting in Long Beach, California.
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When you throw a ball up into the air, you expect gravity will eventually slow the ball, and it will come back down again. But what if you threw a ball up into the air and instead of coming back down, it accelerated away from you? That's basically what is happening with our universe: everything is accelerating away from everything else. This acceleration was discovered in 1998, and scientists believe "dark energy" is responsible, a form of repulsive gravity, and it composes a majority of the universe, about 72%. We don't know what it is yet, but now, for the first time, astronomers have clearly seen the effects of dark energy. Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have tracked how dark energy has stifled the growth of galaxy clusters. Combining this new data with previous studies, scientists have obtained the best clues yet about what dark energy is, confirming its existence. And there's good news, too: the expanding Universe won't rip itself apart.
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A powerful collision of galaxy clusters captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory provides evidence for dark matter and insight into its properties. Observations of the cluster known as MACS J0025.4-1222 indicate that a titanic collision has separated dark matter from ordinary matter. The images also provide an independent confirmation of a similar effect detected previously in a region called the Bullet Cluster. Like the Bullet Cluster, this newly studied cluster shows a clear separation between dark and ordinary matter.
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Working out the mass of huge black holes, like the ones hiding in the centre of galactic nuclei, is no easy task and attempts are being made to find novel ways to weigh them. Using data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, two scientists have confirmed a theory they conceived ten years ago, that the supermassive black holes in the centre of galaxies strongly influence the nature of the gases surrounding them. So, acting like a remote thermometer, Chandra is being used to probe deep into the neighbourhood of these exotic objects, gauging their masses very accurately…
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