An overview of the Chandra mission and goals, Chandra's namesake, top 10 facts.
Classroom activities, printable materials, interactive games & more.
Overview of X-ray Astronomy and X-ray sources: black holes to galaxy clusters.
All Chandra images released to the public listed by date & by category
Current Chandra press releases, status reports, interviews & biographies.
A collection of multimedia, illustrations & animations, a glossary, FAQ & more.
A collection of illustrations, animations and video.
Chandra discoveries in an audio/video format.
Zoom into M87

Zoom into the image of M87 and see all it's details up close and personal. Use the slider bar to zoom in close or zoom out and see the bigger picture.

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M87
This image is a composite of visible, radio, and X-ray data of the giant elliptical galaxy, M87. Bright jets moving at close to the speed of light are seen at all wavelengths coming from the massive black hole at the center of the galaxy. M87 is a powerful source of X-rays, as observed by Chandra, as it resides near the center of a hot, X-ray emitting cloud that extends over much of the Virgo cluster. M87 has also been identified with the strong radio source, Virgo A. The extended radio emission consists of plumes of fast-moving gas from the jets rising into the X-ray emitting cluster medium.

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