The Chandra X-ray Observatory of NASA had a magnificent 25th anniversary celebration. On Tuesday, the space agency unveiled 25 never-before-seen photos taken with the space telescope. The images include the planet Jupiter as well as galaxies and nebulae throughout the cosmos. It’s difficult to choose a favorite, but a new perspective on the M16 Eagle Nebula is noteworthy. The picture includes the magnificent Pillars of Creation, a well-known celestial structure that has fascinated people on Earth for many years.
The Pillars of Creation, a star-forming zone with towering fingers of gas and dust, gained notoriety in the 1990s thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope. In 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope participated with its own version.
Chandra’s X-ray vision gives it a unique ability to reveal aspects of the universe. As per NASA, “X-rays are an especially penetrating type of light that reveals extremely hot objects and very energetic physical processes.” “Many fascinating regions in space glow strongly in X-rays, such as the debris from exploded stars and material swirling around black holes.” Data from other observatories that “see” in different ways is frequently integrated with data from Chandra. Data from Chandra combined with an infrared picture from Webb is used to create the Pillars of Creation image.
In the updated picture, Chandra amplifies the stellar power. Search for young stars that resemble confetti. These represent the pinnacle of Chandra’s input. The Chandra team used beautiful words to describe the image: “The misty glow, colorful stars, and lifelike gray dust formations combine to create an image of yearning cloud creatures at dusk, reaching for something just out of frame.”
The latest Chandra photos are all quite beautiful. Known for being the remnant of a supernova explosion, the Crab Nebula is another prominent structure. It looked like a neon purple mushroom with a web of veins and filaments surrounding it, according to the Chandra team.
Another area where stars originate is called Cat’s Paw Nebula, which was also photographed by Chandra. A group of young stars with white spots at their centers and a vivid purple appearance were observed by the observatory.
The combined Chandra and Hubble infrared image of Jupiter appears like a striped marble hovering in space. The neon-purple bands at the planet’s top and bottom were identified by the Chandra team. The scientists explained, “Capping the planet’s magnetic poles, these purple strips represent X-ray auroras, created when high-energy particles collide with gas in the planet’s atmosphere.”
On July 23, 1999, Chandra was launched with assistance from the space shuttle Columbia. Since then, the telescope has recorded about 25,000 observations. According to Pat Slane, director of the Chandra X-ray Center, “Astronomers have used Chandra to investigate mysteries that we didn’t even know about when we were building the telescope—including exoplanets and dark energy,” A NASA count indicates that more than 10,000 peer-reviewed articles have been authored by scientists using Chandra data.
The stunning new photos have a bittersweet quality. NASA revealed intentions to reduce the observatory’s funding, perhaps leading to the closure of its operations. That implies that there may not be any more anniversary parties. Even though Chandra may not be as well-known as the Hubble Space Telescope or the Webb telescope, the observatory has made significant contributions to the study of exoplanets, black holes, and distant galaxies. “Help understand the structure and evolution of the universe.” is its stated objective. It would be hard for the astronomers who utilize Chandra’s data to say goodbye.