1. Tour of Abell 3376
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This composite image of the galaxy cluster Abell 3376 shows X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the ROSAT telescope along with an optical image from the Digitized Sky Survey and radio emission observed by the Very Large Array. The "bullet-like" appearance of the X-ray data is caused by a merger, as material flows into the galaxy cluster from the right side. Two different teams used Chandra observations of galaxy clusters, including Abell 3376, to study the properties of gravity on cosmic scales. This allowed them to test the Theory of General Relativity, and it turns out Einstein and his theory are still holding their own. Such studies are crucial for understanding the evolution of the universe, both in the past and the future, and for probing the nature of dark energy, one of the biggest mysteries in science.
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(X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/A. Vikhlinin; ROSAT), Optical (DSS), Radio (NSF/NRAO/VLA/IUCAA/J.Bagchi)

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: Abell 3376

2. Tour of Antennae
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This beautiful new image shows two colliding galaxies as seen by NASA's Great Observatories. The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The collision began more than 100 million years ago and is going on. It has triggered the formation of millions of stars in clouds of dusts and gas in the galaxies. The X-ray image from Chandra shows huge clouds of hot, interstellar gas that have been injected with rich deposits of elements from supernova explosions. This enriched gas, which includes elements such as oxygen, iron, magnesium and silicon, will one day be incorporated into new generations of stars and planets.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J.DePasquale; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Optical: NASA/STScI)

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: Antennae

3. Tour of CH Cyg
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Deep within this optical image lies an intriguing system known as CH Cyg. CH Cyg is a binary star system containing a white dwarf that feeds from the wind of a red giant star. The material from the wind forms a hot accretion disk around the white dwarf before crashing onto the star. CH Cyg is one of only a few hundred so-called symbiotic systems known, and one of the closest to Earth at a distance of only about 800 light years. By combining X-ray data from Chandra, optical data from Hubble, and radio data from the Very Large Array, scientists can study CH Cyg like never before. This image shows material in a jet, moving with a speed of over three million miles per hour, powered by material spinning into the accretion disk around the white dwarf. Systems like CH Cyg are fascinating objects because the components are codependent and influence each other's structure, daily life, and evolution.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/M.Karovska et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NRAO/VLA]; Wide field [Optical (DSS))

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: CH Cyg

4. Tour of ESO 137
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Two spectacular tails of X-ray emission have been seen trailing behind a galaxy known as ESO 137. This composite image shows X-rays from Chandra in blue, optical emission in yellow and emission from hydrogen light in red. The X-ray tails were created when cool gas from the galaxy (with a temperature of about ten degrees above absolute zero) was stripped by hot gas of about 100 million degrees as it travels through the center of the galaxy cluster. The stripping of this cool gas could be leading to new stars being formed in the tails behind the galaxy. This would be the first time such a thing had ever been seen.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/UVa/M. Sun, et al; H-alpha/Optical: SOAR (UVa/NOAO/UNC/CNPq-Brazil)/M.Sun et al.)

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: Abell 3627

5. Tour of G327.1-1.1
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G327.1-1.1 is the aftermath of a massive star that exploded as a supernova in the Milky Way galaxy. A highly magnetic, rapidly spinning neutron star called a pulsar was left behind after the explosion and is producing a wind of relativistic particles, seen in X-rays by Chandra and XMM-Newton as well as in radio data. This structure is called a pulsar wind nebula. No clear explanation is yet known for the unusual shape of this supernova remnant. One possibility is that we are seeing the effects of a shock wave bouncing backwards off of the shell of material swept up by the blast wave. The X-ray observations allow scientists to estimate the energy released during the supernova explosion and the age of the remnant, as well as the amount of material being swept up as the blast wave from the explosion expands.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/T.Temim et al. and ESA/XMM-Newton Radio: SIFA/MOST and CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA; Infrared: UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF/2MASS)

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: G327.1-1.1

6. Tour of G54.1+0.3
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Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope were combined to create this image of the dusty remains of a collapsed star. This object, known as G54.1+0.3, is a supernova remnant some 20,000 light years from Earth. The white object near the center of the image is a dense, rapidly-rotating neutron star called a pulsar that was left behind after the star collapsed. The pulsar generates a wind of high-energy particles, seen in the Chandra data, that expands into the surrounding environment, illuminating the material ejected in the supernova explosion. This infrared data shows a shell of dust and gas that's being dispersed back into space where it one day may become part of a new generation of stars and planets.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/T.Temim et al.; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: G54.1+0.3

7. Tour of M31
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This image of M31 represents a study of six elliptical galaxies that Chandra made to determine what causes an important type of supernova. At the heart of M31, also known as the Andromeda Galaxy, Chandra detects X-rays. The X-ray glow is partially caused by the aftermath of exploded stars known as supernovas. By examining the properties of the X-rays, scientists have figured out that one class of supernovas in these galaxies, known as Type Ia, are caused when two white dwarf stars merge. Understanding how Type Ia supernovas are triggered is important, since these objects are used to measure vast distances across the cosmos.
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(X-ray (NASA/CXC/MPA/M.Gilfanov & A.Bogdan), Infrared (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC), Optical (DSS))

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: M31

8. Tour of M31 II
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For over a decade, astronomers have been using the Chandra X-ray Observatory to monitor the supermassive black hole in the center of Andromeda, the Milky Way's sister galaxy. These observations have revealed that the black hole at the center of Andromeda was very quiet until January 2006, when it underwent a big outburst in X-rays. Since then, it's quieted down again, but it remains about ten times brighter in X-rays now than before 2006. Astronomers will continue to observe this feeble but unpredictable black hole, which is the closest supermassive black hole to us outside of the Milky Way.
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(X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/Li et al.), Optical (DSS))

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: M31

9. Tour of M82 and Mid-mass Black Holes
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We begin with a composite image of the nearby starburst galaxy M82 that contains X-rays from Chandra in blue, optical data from Hubble in green and orange, and infrared data from Spitzer in red. Next we zoom into the central region of M82, where just Chandra's view is visible. There we see two bright X-ray sources of special interest. Astronomers think these may be medium-sized black holes. These "survivor" black holes seem to have avoided falling into the center of the galaxy. They could also be examples of seeds required for the growth of supermassive black holes in all galaxies, including the one in the Milky Way.
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(Inset: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Tsinghua Univ./H. Feng et al.; Full-field: X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht)

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: M82

10. Tour of N49
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This beautiful image shows N49, which is the aftermath of a supernova explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Optical data from Hubble shows bright filaments where the shockwave generated by the supernova is interacting with the densest regions in nearby clouds of cool molecular gas. A new long observation from Chandra, equaling over 30 hours of observing time, reveals evidence for a bullet-shaped object that is being blown out of the debris field which is left over from an exploded star. This bullet, which is traveling some 5 million miles per hour, was ejected when the supernova went off and is rich in Silicon, Sulfur and Neon. The detection of this bullet shows that the explosion that destroyed the star was highly asymmetric , and gives clues to how some stars explode.
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(X-ray: (NASA/CXC/Penn State/S.Park et al.); Optical: NASA/STScI/UIUC/Y.H.Chu & R.Williams et al)

Related Chandra Images:

• Photo Album: N49