Presented by:

Jorge A Campos

Description

part of NASA's fleet of "Great Observatories" including: • the Hubble Space Telescope • the Spitizer Space Telescope • Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (deorbited)

launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999

Description

Chandra is designed to observe X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe, such as the remnants of exploded stars.

Example: two images of the Crab Nebula supernova remnant and its pulsar

LEFT: image from the High Resolution Imager on the Rontgensatellite (Rosat), the observatory with the best imaging capability before Chandra.

RIGHT: taken by the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on Chandra.

It has approximately fifty times better resolution (pixel area fifty or more times smaller) than the one on the left. In the Chandra image, new details-rings and jets in the region around the pulsar-provide valuable information for understanding how the pulsar transmits energy to the nebula as a whole.

Much of the matter in the universe cannot be seen by any other telescope. X-ray telescopes are the only way we can observe extremely hot matter with temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius. It takes gigantic explosions, or intense magnetic or gravitational fields to energize particles to these high temperatures.

Where do such conditions exist? In an astonishing variety of places, ranging from the vast spaces between galaxies to the bizarre, collapsed worlds of neutron stars and black holes.

Why X-ray observatory?

X-rays are a highly energetic form of light, not visible to human eyes.

Very low temperatures (hundreds of degrees below zero Celsius) produce mostly low energy radio and microwave photons, while cool bodies like ours (about 30 degrees Celsius) produce largely infrared radiation. Objects at very high temperatures (millions of degrees Celsius) emit most of their energy as x-rays.

What are X-rays?

X-rays do not reflect off mirrors the same way that visible light does. Because of their high-energy, X-ray photons penetrate into the mirror in much the same way that bullets slam into a wall. These properties mean that X-ray telescopes must be very different from optical telescopes.

The mirrors have to be precisely shaped and aligned nearly parallel to incoming x-rays. Thus they look more like barrels than the familiar dish shape of optical telescopes.

How do X-ray telescopes differ from optical telescopes?

How do X-ray telescopes differ from optical telescopes?

http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/reflect/graze.html

X-ray observatories must be placed high above the Earth's surface because the Earth's atmosphere absorbs x-rays.

This means that the ultra-precise mirrors and detectors must be able to withstand the rocket launch and operate in the harsh environment of space.

Why can't we have X-ray observatories on Earth?

Chandra detects and images X-ray sources that are billions of light years away.

The mirrors on Chandra are the largest, most precisely shaped and aligned, and smoothest mirrors ever constructed.

The images Chandra makes are twenty-five times sharper than the best previous X-ray telescope. This focusing power is equivalent to the ability to read a newspaper at a distance of half a mile.

Chandra's improved sensitivity is making possible more detailed studies of black holes, supernovas, and dark matter.

What makes Chandra unique?

This false-color Chandra image of a supernova remnant shows X-rays produced by high-energy particles (blue) and multimillion degree gas (red/green). In 1006 AD, what was thought to be a "new star" suddenly appeared in the sky and over the course of a few days became brighter than the planet Venus. The supernova of 1006, or SN 1006, may have been the brightest supernova on record.

Some images…

SN 1006: The Hot Remains of a 1000 Year-Old Supernova

http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/sn1006/

The Chandra three-color image (inset) of a region of the supernova remnant Puppis A (wide-angle view from ROSAT in blue) reveals a cloud being torn apart by a shock wave produced in a supernova explosion. This is the first X-ray identification of such a process in an advanced phase.

http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/puppisa/

Credit Chandra: NASA/CXC/GSFC/U.Hwang et al.; ROSAT: NASA/GSFC/S.Snowden et al.

Scale ROSAT image is 88 arcmin across; Chandra image is 8 arcmin across

Category Supernovas & Supernova Remnants

Coordinates (J2000) RA 08h 23m 08.16s | Dec -42º 41' 41.40

Constellation Puppis

Observation Date 04 Sep 2005

Observation Time 10 hours

Obs. ID 5564

Color Code Energy (Red 0.4-0.7 keV; Green 0.7-1.2 keV; Blue 1.2-10 keV)

Instrument ACIS

References U. Hwang et al. 2005, ApJ 635, 355, astro-ph/0508243

Distance Estimate About 7,000 light years

Release Date February 15, 2006

In 1572, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe observed and studied the explosion of a star that became known as Tycho's Supernova. More than four centuries later, Chandra's image of the supernova remnant shows an expanding bubble of multimillion degree debris (green and red) inside a more rapidly moving shell of extremely high energy electrons (filamentary blue).

The supersonic expansion (about six million miles per hour) of the stellar debris has created two X-ray emitting shock waves - one moving outward into the interstellar gas, and another moving back into the debris.

http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/tycho/

Credit NASA/CXC/Rutgers/J.Warren & J.Hughes et al.

Scale Image is 10.5 arcmin across.

Category Supernovas & Supernova Remnants

Coordinates (J2000) RA 00h 25m 17s | Dec +64° 08' 37"

Constellation Cassiopeia

Observation Dates 29 Apr 2003

Observation Time 41 hours

Obs. ID 3837

Color Code Energy: Red 0.95-1.26 keV, Green 1.63-2.26 keV, Blue 4.1-6.1 keV

Instrument ACIS

Also Known As SN 1572

References J. Warren et al. 2005, The Astrophysical J. (In press) see also Astro-ph/0507478.

Distance Estimate About 7,500 light years

Release Date September 22, 2005

#10 - Chandra flies 200 times higher than Hubble - more than 1/3 of the way to the moon!

#9 - Chandra can observe X-rays from clouds of gas so vast that it takes light five million years to go from one side to the other!

#8 - During maneuvers from one target to the next, Chandra slews more slowly than the minute hand on a clock. #7 - At 45 feet long, Chandra is the largest satellite the shuttle has ever launched!

Top 10 Facts about Chandra

#6 - If Colorado were as smooth as Chandra's mirrors, Pikes Peak would be less than one inch tall! #5 - Chandra's resolving power is equivalent to the ability to read a stop sign at a distance of twelve miles.

#4 - The electrical power required to operate the Chandra spacecraft and instruments is 2 kilowatts, about the same power as a hair dryer.

Top 10 Facts about Chandra

#3 - The light from some of the quasars observed by Chandra will have been traveling through space for ten billion years. #2 - STS-93, the space mission that deployed Chandra, was the first NASA shuttle mission commanded by a woman.

#1 - Chandra can observe X-rays from particles up to the last second before they fall into a black hole!!!

Top 10 Facts about Chandra

Special Featureshttp://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/misc/special_features.html Animations and Video http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/animations/index.html

PowerPoint presentationshttp://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/pptshows/index.html

Resources

Summer Opportunities

“Chandra and the X-Ray Universe” June 26-30, 2006 in Carson City NV July 27-31, 2006 at McDonald Observatory, Ft Davis, TX.

http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/

Resources

• http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/chandra/

• http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/axaf_mission.html