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Chandra 101:
Overview for Teachers and Students
A Look at X-Rays
What are x-rays?
X-rays are a highly energetic form of light, not visible to human eyes. Light can
take on many forms -- including radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible,
ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma radiation. Very low temperatures (hundreds of
degrees below zero Celsius) produce mostly low energy radio and microwave
photons, whereas 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.
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