In celebration of our 25th anniversary NASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryThe Chandra team has released 25 new images of cosmic objects and phenomena.
This collection of images was released to celebrate Chandra’s 25th anniversary. Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO.
On July 23, 1999, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched into orbit carrying Chandra, the heaviest payload carried by the shuttle at the time.
Under the command of Commander Eileen Collins, the astronauts aboard Columbia successfully placed Chandra into a highly elliptical orbit roughly equivalent to one-third the distance to the Moon.
“For a quarter century, Chandra has made one amazing discovery after another,” said Dr. Pat Slane, director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center.
“Astronomers have used Chandra to explore mysteries that were unknown when the telescope was built, including exoplanets and dark energy.”
“Chandra is a great success story for humanity and its pursuit of knowledge,” said Dr. Andrew Schnell, acting Chandra project manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
“The telescope’s incredible achievements have been made possible through the hard work and dedication of the team.”
The new series of images is a sample of the roughly 25,000 observations Chandra has taken during its quarter-century in space.
In 1976, Riccardo Giacconi and Harvey Tananbaum first proposed the mission that would become Chandra to NASA.
Eventually, Chandra was selected as one of NASA’s great observatories, along with the Hubble Space Telescope, the now-retired Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope, each observing a different kind of light.
In 2002, Giacconi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering contributions to astrophysics that led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources and laid the foundation for the development and launch of Chandra.
Today, astronomers continue to use Chandra data in conjunction with other powerful telescopes, including the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).
“On behalf of the STS-93 crew, we are incredibly proud of the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the talented team that built and launched this astronomical gem,” said Eileen Collins, commander of Space Shuttle Columbia, which launched Chandra into space in 1999.
“Chandra’s discoveries have continued to amaze and inspire us for the past 25 years.”
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This article is a version of a press release provided by NASA.
Source: www.sci.news
