The Chandra X-ray Center operates under the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and is housed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The initial Chandra Observatory projects included the Hubble Space Telescope launch in 1991. The Chandra X-ray Observatory satellite launched in 1999. Chandra advanced the entire field of astronomy and in particular X-ray astronomy. The Chandra X-ray Center monitors the Chandra satellite and has answered many scientific inquiries about supernovas, black holes, neutron stars and how these anomalies behave. Observations of pressure waves and shock waves around black holes, the Milky Way, galaxies, quasars and more. The Chandra X-ray Center shares information with interested scientists and other observatories. Media inquiries are welcome and timely updates of Chandra activity is posted on their Web site.
Where Alice in Wonderland meets Albert Einstein
One hundred years ago this month, Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity, one of the most important scientific achievements in the last century.
More than meets the eye: Delta Orionis in Orion's belt
One of the most recognizable constellations in the sky is Orion, the Hunter. Among Orion's best-known features is the "belt," consisting of three bright stars in a line, each of which can be seen without a telescope.
A fresh perspective on an extraordinary cluster of galaxies
Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity.
Milky Way's black hole shows signs of increased chatter
Three orbiting X-ray space telescopes have detected an increased rate of X-ray flares from the usually quiet giant black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy after new long-term monitoring. Scientists are trying to ...
Oxymoronic black hole RGG 118 provides clues to growth
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the 6.5-meter Clay Telescope in Chile have identified the smallest supermassive black hole ever detected in the center of a galaxy, as described in our latest press release. ...
Pulsar punches hole in stellar disk
A fast-moving pulsar appears to have punched a hole in a disk of gas around its companion star and launched a fragment of the disk outward at a speed of about 4 million miles per hour. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is ...
Chandra finds evidence for serial black hole eruptions
Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to show that multiple eruptions from a supermassive black hole over 50 million years have rearranged the cosmic landscape at the center of a group of galaxies.
NASA telescopes set limits on space-time quantum 'foam'
A team of scientists has used X-ray and gamma-ray observations of some of the most distant objects in the universe to better understand the nature of space and time. Their results set limits on the quantum nature, or "foaminess," ...
Magnetar near supermassive black hole delivers surprises
In 2013, astronomers announced they had discovered a magnetar exceptionally close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way using a suite of space-borne telescopes including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
White dwarf may have shredded passing planet
The destruction of a planet may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but a team of astronomers has found evidence that this may have happened in an ancient cluster of stars at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy.