http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/ Chandra Photo Gallery en-us http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/crab/ Spectacular death of a star in the constellation Taurus was observed on Earth as the supernova of 1054 A.D. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/cassio/ A supernova remnant in the Milky Way with a neutron star at its center. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/e0102/ Officially known as 1E0102.2-7219, a supernova remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/rcw86/ A supernova remnant in the Milky Way, about 8,200 light years from Earth. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/snr0104/ A new image from Chandra X-ray Observatory shows a supernova remnant with a different look. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/b1509/ A small, dense object only twelve miles in diameter is responsible for this beautiful X-ray nebula that spans 150 light years. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/tycho/ Composite image of the Tycho supernova remnant http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/casa/ This new movie of X-ray data from Chandra of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A was made by combining observations taken between January 2000 and December 2007. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2009/casa2/ For the first time, a multiwavelength three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of a supernova remnant has been created. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/crab/ This image gives the first clear view of the faint boundary of the Crab Nebula's X-ray-emitting pulsar wind nebula. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/sn1996/ This composite image shows the central regions of the nearby Circinus galaxy, located about 12 million light years away. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/sn1006c/ Just over a thousand years ago, the stellar explosion known as supernova SN 1006 was observed. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/w28/ When some stars die, they explode as supernovas and their debris fields (aka, "supernova remnants") expand into the surrounding environments. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/sn2008d/ On January 9, 2008, NASA's Swift satellite was used to fortuitously observe a very bright X-ray outburst in the spiral galaxy NGC 2770, located 90 million light-years from Earth. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/g19/ The expanding remains of a supernova explosion in the Milky Way are shown in this composite image of the supernova remnant G1.9+0.3. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/snr0509/ This combination of X-ray and optical images shows the aftermath of a powerful supernova explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/n132d/ This Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows the debris of a massive star explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy about 160,000 light years from Earth. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/kes75/ This deep Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows the supernova remnant Kes 75, located almost 20,000 light years away. The explosion of a massive star created the supernova remnant, along with a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2008/ngc1404/ Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have reported the possible detection of a binary star system that was later destroyed in a supernova explosion. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/g292/ The aftermath of the death of a massive star is shown in beautiful detail in this new composite image of G292.0+1.8 http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/n19/ At a distance of only 200,000 light years, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/2snr/ New images of two supernova remnants, G347.3-0.5 and RCW 86, show the result of combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/2snr/ New images of two supernova remnants, G347.3-0.5 and RCW 86, show the result of combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/rcw103/ When stars are more massive than about 8 times the Sun, they end their lives in a spectacular explosion called a supernova. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/n132d/ Supernovas are the explosive deaths of the universe's most massive stars. In death, these objects blast powerful waves into the cosmos, destroying much of the dust surrounding them. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/sn2006gy/ According to observations by Chandra and ground-based optical telescopes, SN 2006gy is the brightest and most energetic stellar explosion ever recorded. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/sn2006jc/ In a galaxy far, far away, a massive star suffered a nasty double whammy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/sn87a/ February 24, 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most spectacular events observed by astronomers in modern times, Supernova 1987A. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/g11/ G11.2-0.3 is a circularly symmetric supernova remnant that contains a dense, rotating dead star at its center, representing a textbook case of what the remnant of an exploding star should look like after a couple thousand years. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/kepler/ A stunning new image of one of the youngest supernova remnants in the Galaxy has been created using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/deml238/ DEM L238 and DEM L249 are two supernova remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud. X-ray data from NASA's Chandra and ESA's XMM-Newton observatories suggest that the stars responsible for these debris fields were unusually young when they were destroyed by thermonuclear explosions. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/n49/ This is a composite image of N49, the brightest supernova remnant in optical light in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Chandra X-ray image (blue) shows million-degree gas in the center. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/casa/ This extraordinarily deep Chandra image shows Cassiopeia A (Cas A, for short), the youngest supernova remnant in the Milky Way. New analysis shows that this supernova remnant acts like a relativistic pinball machine by accelerating electrons to enormous energies. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/crab/ According to the folklore of the Celts and other ancient cultures, Halloween marked the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice on the astronomical calendar, a spooky night when spirits of the dead spread havoc upon their return to Earth. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/rcw86/ The combined image from the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories of RCW 86 shows the expanding ring of debris that was created after a massive star in the Milky Way collapsed onto itself and exploded. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/4snr/ The remains of four supernovas in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/4snr/ The remains of four supernovas in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/4snr/ The remains of four supernovas in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/4snr/ The remains of four supernovas in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/puppisa/ The Chandra three-color image of a region of the supernova remnant Puppis A reveals a cloud being torn apart by a shock wave produced in a supernova explosion. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/sn1006/ This false-color Chandra image of a supernova remnant shows X-rays produced by high-energy particles and multimillion degree gas. 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. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/sn70/ Chandra's image (inset) shows X-rays from a supernova that was observed to occur 35 years ago. The bright cloud in the box in the optical image is not related to the supernova, which is located immediately to the upper right (arrow) of the cloud. Before a massive star explodes as a supernova, it loses gas in a stellar wind that creates a circumstellar gas shell around the star. The explosion generates shock waves that rush through this gas and heat it to millions of degrees. The X-rays from SN 1970G are likely due to this process. Astronomers estimate that in another 20 to 60 years the shock waves will have traversed the shell and encountered the interstellar medium. At this time SN 1970G will make the transition to the supernova remnant phase of its evolution. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/d316/ This is a composite X-ray (red and green)/optical (blue) image of two hot gas shells produced by supernova explosions. Although the shells appear to be colliding, it may be an illusion. Chandra X-ray spectra show that the shell of hot gas on the upper left contains considerably more iron than the one on the lower right. This implies that stars with very different ages exploded to produce these objects. The remnant on the upper left is from an old white dwarf star in a binary system, and the one on the lower right is from a much younger massive star, so the apparent proximity of the remnants is probably the result of a chance alignment. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/n132d/ This beautiful image shows a glowing horseshoe-shaped cloud of hot gas against a backdrop of thousands of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/tycho/ The Chandra image shows a bubble of hot gaseous supernova debris (green and red) inside a more rapidly moving shell of extremely high-energy electrons (blue). These features were created as the supersonic expansion of the debris into interstellar gas produced two shock waves - one that moves outward and accelerates particles to high energies, and another that moves backward and heats the stellar debris. The relative expansion speeds of the hot debris and the high-energy shell indicate that a large fraction of the energy of the outward-moving shock wave is going into the acceleration of atomic nuclei to extremely high energies. This finding strengthens the case that supernova shock waves are an important source of cosmic rays - high-energy nuclei which constantly bombard Earth. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/sn87a/ The Chandra X-ray image (left) reveals a ring of multimillion-degree gas produced by the collision of an outward-moving supernova shock wave with a ring of cool circumstellar gas. The optical image (right) from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a ring of bright spots that are also caused by the shock wave hitting the cool gas. Long before the explosion of the massive star that produced Supernova 1987A, most of its outer layers expanded away in a slowly moving stellar wind that formed a vast cloud of gas. Later, a high-speed wind from the star carved out a cavity about 1 light year in diameter in the cool gas cloud. As the supernova shock wave plows deeper into the cool cloud the ring should become larger and much brighter in both optical and X-ray light. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/casa/ This stunning picture of Cas A is a composite of infrared (red), optical (yellow) and X-ray (green and blue) images. The infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope reveals warm dust in the outer shell with temperatures of about 25 degrees Celsius, whereas the optical image from the Hubble Space telescope brings out the delicate filamentary structures of warmer (10,000 Celsius) gas; Chandra shows hot gases at about 10 million degrees Celsius. This hot gas was created when ejected material from the supernova smashed into surrounding gas and dust at speeds of about ten million miles per hour. A comparison of the infrared and X-ray images of Cas A should enable astronomers to determine whether most of the dust in the supernova remnant came from the massive star before it exploded, or from the rapidly expanding supernova ejecta. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2005/g21/ This image, made by combining 150 hours of archived Chandra data, shows the remnant of a supernova explosion. The central bright cloud of high-energy electrons is surrounded by a distinctive shell of hot gas. The shell is due to a shock wave generated as the material ejected by the supernova plows into interstellar matter. Although many supernovas leave behind bright shells, others do not. This supernova remnant was long considered to be one without a shell until it was revealed by Chandra. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/kepler/ This composite Chandra X-ray (blue and green), Hubble Space Telescope optical (yellow), and Spitzer Space Telescope infrared (red) image shows a cloud of gas and dust that is 14 light years in diameter and expanding at 4 million miles per hour (2,000 kilometers per second). The optical image reveals 10,000 degrees Celsius gas where the supernova shock wave is slamming into the densest regions of surrounding gas. The infrared image highlights microscopic dust particles swept up and heated by the supernova shock wave. The X-ray data show regions with multimillion degree gas, or extremely high energy particles. The higher-energy X-rays (colored blue) come primarily from the regions directly behind the shock front. Lower-energy X-rays (colored green) mark the location of the hot remains of the exploded star. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/casa/ This Chandra image is the most detailed ever made of the remains of an exploded star. The one-million-second image (left) shows a bright outer ring (green) ten light years in diameter that marks the location of a shock wave generated by the supernova explosion. A large jet-like structure protrudes beyond the shock wave in the upper left. In a specially processed image (right) which highlights silicon ions, a counter-jet can be seen on the lower right. In the main image, the bright blue fingers located near the shock wave on the lower left are composed almost purely of iron gas. This iron was produced in the central, hottest regions of the star and somehow ejected in a direction almost perpendicular to the jets. One explanation for the jets is that they were produced by a rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron star (central white dot) soon after the supernova explosion. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/w49b/ This is a composite Chandra X-ray (blue) and Palomar infrared (red and green) image that reveals a barrel-shaped supernova remnant consisting of bright infrared rings around a glowing bar of intense X-radiation. These X-rays are produced by jets of 15 million degree Celsius gas that is rich in iron and nickel. These features indicate that W49B was produced when the core of a rapidly-rotating massive star collapsed to form a black hole, triggering the ejection of high-energy jets of material. Such a sequence of events is consistent with the collapsar model for gamma-ray bursts. If confirmed, the discovery of a relatively nearby remnant of a gamma-ray burst would give scientists an excellent opportunity to study the aftermath of one of nature's most violent explosions. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/snr0540/ Chandra's image of SNR 0540-69.3 reveals two aspects of the enormous power released when a massive star explodes. An implosion crushed material into an extremely dense (10 miles in diameter) neutron star, triggering an explosion that sent a shock wave rumbling through space at speeds in excess of 5 million miles per hour. The central intense white blaze of high-energy particles about 3 light years across was created by a rapidly rotating neutron star, or pulsar. Surrounding the white blaze is a shell of hot gas 40 light years in diameter that marks the location of the supernova shock wave. The colors red, green and blue in the image correspond to low, medium and high-energy X-rays, respectively. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/n49b/ On the left is a Chandra image of a cloud of multimillion degree gas produced by the explosion of a massive star. The image has been color coded so that low, medium and high energy X-rays are represented as red, green and blue, respectively. A specially processed version of this image that uses spectral data (right) reveals unexpectedly large concentrations of the element magnesium, shown as blue-green. Magnesium, created deep inside the star and ejected in the supernova explosion, is usually associated with correspondingly high concentrations of oxygen. However, the Chandra data indicate that the amount of oxygen in N49B is not exceptional. This poses a puzzle as to how the excess magnesium was created, or, alternatively, how the excess oxygen has escaped detection. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/n63a/ Chandra's image (blue) of N63A has been combined with optical (green) and radio (red) images to make this composite image. The X-rays show material heated to about ten million degrees Celsius by a shock wave generated by the supernova explosion. The central region of the remnant is bright in optical and radio light because the supernova shock wave is engulfing a massive cloud of dust and gas. Collisions such as this are thought to trigger the formation of a new generation of stars. The fluffy crescent-shaped X-ray features that appear around the edge of the remnant are thought to be fragments of high-speed matter shot out from the star when it exploded, like shrapnel from a bomb. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/snr0103/ Chandra's image shows a striking, nearly perfect ring about 150 light years in diameter surrounding a cloud of gas rich in oxygen and shock-heated to millions of degrees Celsius. The ring marks the outer limits of a shock wave produced as material ejected in the supernova explosion plows into interstellar gas. The size of the ring indicates that we see the supernova remnant as it was about 10,000 years after its progenitor star exploded. Oxygen is synthesized by nuclear reactions in the interiors of stars at least ten time as massive as the Sun. When such a star explodes, its core collapses to form either a neutron star, or if massive enough, a black hole, and the oxygen-rich material surrounding the core is propelled into interstellar space. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/deml71/ Chandra's X-ray image (left panel) of the supernova remnant DEM L71 revealed a ten million-degree hot inner cloud (aqua) of glowing iron and silicon surrounded by an outer ring of 5 million-degree gas. The outer ring is also visible at optical wavelengths (right panel). An analysis of the Chandra data identified the inner cloud as the remains of a white dwarf star that exploded. The white dwarf pulled matter from a nearby companion star onto itself until it became unstable and blew apart in a thermonuclear explosion called a Type Ia supernova. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0052/ This collage is composed of Chandra images made over a span of several months (ordered left to right, except for the close-up). They provide a dramatic look at the activity generated by the pulsar (white dot near the center of the images) in the Crab Nebula. The inner X-ray ring is thought to be a shock wave that marks the boundary between the surrounding nebula and the flow of matter and antimatter particles from the pulsar. Energetic shocked particles move outward to brighten the outer ring and produce an extended X-ray glow. The jets perpendicular to the ring are due to matter and antimatter particles spewing out from the poles of the pulsar. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0005/ Chandra's image reveals the turbulent remains of a supernova explosion that was observed by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the year 1572. The red, green, and blue colors represent low, medium and high X-ray energies, respectively. The image is cut off at the bottom because of an instrumental artifact. A shock wave produced by the expanding debris is outlined by the strikingly sharp blue circular arcs of twenty million degree Celsius gas seen on the outer rim. The stellar debris, which has a temperature of about ten million degrees and is visible only in X-rays, shows up as mottled yellow, green and red fingers of gas. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0237/ In August of 1999, NASA released an image of Cassiopeia A, a supernova remnant revealed in never-before-seen X-ray detail. The "Cas A" image, as it has come to be known, shows remarkable structure in the debris of a gigantic stellar explosion, as well as an enigmatic source in the center, which could be a rapidly spinning neutron star or black hole. The Chandra X-ray Observatory image of Cas A ushered in a new era of X-ray astronomy. This image was produced from the archives to celebrate the anniversary of Chandra's first light. The low, medium, and higher X-ray energies of the Chandra data are shown as red, green, and blue respectively. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/g541/ Chandra's image of this supernova remnant shows a bright ring of high-energy particles with a central point-like source. This observation enabled scientists to use the giant Arecibo Radio Telescope to search for and locate the pulsar, or neutron star that powers the ring. The ring of particles and two jet-like structures appear to be due to the energetic flow of radiation and particles from the rapidly spinning neutron star rotating 7 times per second. These discoveries will help scientists better understand how neutron stars channel enormous amounts of energy into particles moving near the speed of light. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/0050/ Chandra's "true color" image of N132D shows a beautiful, complex remnant of the explosion of a massive star. The colors represent different ranges of X-rays, with red, green, and blue representing, low, medium, and higher X-ray energies. The horseshoe shape of the remnant is thought to be due to shock waves from the collision of the supernova ejecta with cool giant gas clouds. As the shock waves move through the gas they heat it to millions of degrees, producing the glowing X-ray shell. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0112/ Chandra's image of G292.0+1.8 shows a rapidly expanding supernova shell of multimillion degree gas that contains large amounts of elements such as oxygen, neon, magnesium silicon and sulfur. Embedded in the purple nebula left and below the center of the remnant is a point-like source of high-energy X-rays. The surrounding energetic features provide strong evidence for a rapidly spinning neutron star. The neutron star was created when the core of a massive star collapsed, triggering an oxygen-rich supernova. Such oxygen-rich remnants are rare, only three are known to exist in our galaxy. They are of great interest to astronomers because they are one of the primary sources of the heavy elements necessary to form planets and people. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/1175/ Chandra's image of the rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, B1509-58 shows a central bright source surrounded by an extremely energetic and complex nebula. The blue and purple colors in the nebula indicate X-rays emitted by high-energy particles of matter and anti-matter produced by the quadrillion volt environment around the pulsar. In the lower left of the image, a thin jet almost 20 light years in length traces a beam of particles being shot out from the pulsar's south pole at more than 130 million miles per hour. The small arc just above the pulsar marks a shock wave produced by particles flowing away from the pulsar's equator. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/sgr_a/ For the first time, Chandra has resolved the complex structures at the center of our Milky Way galaxy through X-ray observations. In addition to the supermassive black hole, Sgr A*, astronomers have found the remains of a supernova that exploded some 10,000 years ago. The proximity of the supernova known as Sgr A East to the black hole in the galactic center suggests that the explosion may have prevented material from falling into the black hole, thus "starving" the supermassive black hole for a period of time. By studying the association between Sgr A East and Sgr A*, astronomers hope to learn if this is an example of a common relationship between supernovas and black holes throughout the universe. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/1227/ Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have pinpointed the exact location of the pulsar within the supernova remnant G11.2-0.3. This provides new evidence that this pulsar and the surrounding remnant are the byproducts of a massive star that exploded in 386 AD that was witnessed by Chinese astronomers. If confirmed, this will be only the second pulsar to be clearly associated with a historic event. This result may have important implications for the births of pulsars, and, therefore, for the population as a whole. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2000/cas_a062700/ A new 14 hour Chandra observation of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A has given the best map yet of heavy elements ejected in a supernova explosion. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2000/sn1987a/ The Chandra X-ray Observatory image of SN 1987A made in January 2000 shows an expanding shell of hot gas produced by the supernova explosion. This observation and an earlier Chandra observation in October 1999 are the earliest X-ray images ever made of a shock wave following a supernova event. The colors represent different intensities of X-ray emission, with white being the brightest. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2000/0015multi/ The Chandra X-ray image (blue) shows gas that has been heated to millions of degrees Celsius by a shock wave moving into matter ejected by the supernova. This gas is rich in oxygen and neon. The radio image (red) made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, traces the outward motion of a shock wave due to the motion of extremely high-energy electrons. The optical image (green) made with the Hubble Space Telescope, shows dense clumps of oxygen gas that have "cooled" to about 30,000 degree Celsius. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2000/0015/ This X-ray image of the supernova remnant E0102-72 shows an expanding multimillion degree ring of oxygen that was created deep inside a massive star and hurled into space by the explosion of the star. The ring is about 30 light years across and contains more than a billion times the oxygen contained in the Earth's ocean and atmosphere. Images such as these provide unprecedented details about the creation and dispersal of heavy elements necessary to form planets like Earth. E0102-72 is in the Small Magellanic Cloud a small galaxy about 200,000 light years from Earth. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/casajph/ The red, green, and blue regions in this Chandra X-ray image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A show where the intensity of low, medium, and high energy X rays, respectively, is greatest. The red material on the left outer edge is enriched in iron, whereas the bright greenish white region on the lower left is enriched in silicon and sulfur. In the blue region on the right edge, low and medium energy X rays have been filtered out by a cloud of dust and gas in the remnant. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/sn1999em/ In late October of 1999, a supernova was detected in NGC 1637, a spiral galaxy that is 25 million light years from Earth. Chandra observed the supernova twice soon after the explosion. X rays, shown by contours overlaid on an optical mage, were detected from 3 million degree gas produced by the supernova. An X-ray source in the center of the galaxy was also detected. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/0052/ The explosion was seen on Earth in 1054 AD. At the center of the nebula is a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar that emits pulses of radiation 30 times a second. The image shows the central pulsar surrounded by tilted rings of high-energy particles that appear to have been flung outward over a distance of more than a light year from the pulsar. Perpendicular to the rings, jet-like structures produced by high-energy particles blast away from the pulsar. The diameter of the inner ring in the image is about one light year, more than 1000 times the diameter of our solar system. The X rays from the Crab nebula are produced by high-energy particles spiraling around magnetic field lines in the Nebula. The bell-shaped appearance of the Nebula could be due to the way this huge magnetized bubble was produced or to its interaction with clouds of gas and dust in the vicinity. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/snrg/ E0102-72 is a supernova remnant in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Located in the constellation Tucana, this galaxy is 190,000 light years from Earth. The remnant is approximately a thousand years old. Stretching across forty light years of space, the expanding multimillion degree shell of gas resembles a flaming cosmic wheel. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/0050/ The Chandra X-ray image of N132D shows a highly structured remnant, or shell, of 10 million degree Celsius gas that is 80 light years across. It is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 light years from Earth. The estimated age of the remnant is about 3000 years. The N132D supernova remnant appears to be colliding with a giant molecular cloud, which produces the brightening on the southern rim of the remnant. The relatively weak X-radiation on the upper left shows that the shock wave is expanding into a less dense region on the edge of the molecular cloud. A number of small circular structures are visible in the central regions and a hint of a large circular loop can be seen in the upper part of the remnant. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/1999/0237/ This X-ray image of the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant is the official first light image of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The 5,000 second image was made with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS). Two shock waves are visible: a fast outer shock and a slower inner shock. The inner shock wave is believed to be due to the collision of the ejecta from the supernova explosion with a circumstellar shell of material, heating it to a temperature of ten million degrees Celsius. The outer shock wave is analogous to an awesome sonic boom resulting from this collision. The bright object near the center may be the long sought neutron star or black hole that remained after the explosion that produced Cas A.