ChandraScience

ChandraScience, 2 days ago to Astro

In November, we asked the community:

Are there major initiatives for which the capabilities of @ChandraScience are absolutely required to address fundamental questions about our current understanding of the Universe that would represent a crucial missed opportunity if they are not completed during Chandra's lifetime?

The community responded, and we are pleased to announce two Chandra Legacy Programs
https://cxc.harvard.edu/CLP/

#Astrodon #Astrophysics #XraysAreTheBestRays #ChandraXRay

ChandraScience, 22 days ago to Astro

That's No Moon!

Well, in this case it is. Back in 2003, #Saturn's moon Titan passed in front of the #CrabNebula. Chandra was on the spot, catching the transit as it happened. Astronomers were able to see the shadow cast by Titan, and used the size of that shadow to measure the extent of Titan's atmosphere.

A great result, demonstrating the power of the Dark Side!

More info: https://chandra.harvard.edu/press/04_releases/press_040504.html
Science: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004ApJ...607.1065M/abstract
#MayThe4th #StarWarsDay #Astrodon #ChandraXRay

ChandraScience, 1 month ago to Astro

We recently released version 2.1 of the #ChandraXRay Source Catalog!

In short, everything we observed that was released publicly prior to the end of 2021 has been reduced, processed, and made available for easy consumption. With over 400,000 individual sources and covering 730 square degrees, the CSC opens the X-ray sky to all astronomers -- even if you've never looked at an X-ray photon before.

Learn more:
https://chandra.si.edu/blog/node/879
#Astrodon #XRaysAreTheBestRays

ChandraScience, 1 month ago to random

Happy Earth Day! While the #ChandraXRay mission has observed sources near and far, we're one of a very limited set of astronomical observatories that has actively and intentionally observed Earth!

In the winter of 2003-2004, we observed the soft energy X-rays associated with the Northern Lights.

Learn more: https://chandra.cfa.harvard.edu/press/05_releases/press_122805.html
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007JASTP..69..179B/abstract

Credit: NASA/MSFC/CXC/A.Bhardwaj & R.Elsner, et al.; Earth model: NASA/GSFC/L.Perkins & G.Shirah

ChandraScience, 1 month ago to Astro

Are you at #HEAD21? Come swing by our booth! Get a brand-new #Chandra25 sticker, find out about the upcoming symposium (https://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/cdo/symposium_2024/), ask your questions about the observatory, and find out about the great new work being done by our archives and source catalog teams!

#XRaysAreTheBestRays #ChandraScience #Astrodon

ChandraScience, 3 months ago to random

Roses are black
Violets are black
-- Hey, we only observe X-rays
Cut us some slack!

#ScienceValentine #Valentine #XRaysAreTheBestRays

ChandraScience, 4 months ago to Astro

Coming to #AAS243? So are we!

Come stop by Booth 315 -- that's the #CenterForAstrophysics booth -- and say hi, pick up some swag, and find out what we've been up to.

We also have a lot more than a booth -- it is the start of our 25th birthday year, after all -- including exhibitor theater and hyperwall talks and an entire special session. You can see the whole schedule of interesting events here: https://groups.google.com/a/cfa.harvard.edu/g/chandra-announce/c/8fA44keUzt0

We're looking forward to seeing everyone in NOLA!
#AASNOLA #Astrodon

ChandraScience, 5 months ago to Astro

What's a Christmas Tree without blinking lights?

The Christmas Tree cluster (NGC 2264) is host to a number of young stars that flicker in X-rays -- although not in the coordinated way shown below (that's just some Holiday fun!). Chandra observations of these X-ray variations are key to unwrapping the mysteries of stars!

For further information, see: https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2023/ngc2264/

#Astrodon #Astronomy #Astrophysics #ChandraXRay #Science

This release features a composite image of a cluster of young stars looking decidedly like a cosmic Christmas tree! The cluster, known as NGC 2264, is in our Milky Way Galaxy, about 2,500 light-years from Earth. Some of the stars in the cluster are relatively small, and some are relatively large, ranging from one tenth to seven times the mass of our Sun. In this composite image, the cluster's resemblance to a Christmas tree has been enhanced through image rotation and color choices. Optical data is represented by wispy green lines and shapes, which creates the boughs and needles of the tree shape. X-rays detected by Chandra are presented as blue and white lights and resemble glowing dots of light on the tree. Infrared data show foreground and background stars as gleaming specks of white against the blackness of space. The image has been rotated by 160 degrees from the astronomer's standard of North pointing upwards. This puts the peak of the roughly conical tree shape near the top of the image, though it doesn't address the slight bare patch in the tree's branches, at our lower right, which in a living room should probably be turned to the corner! In the animation, blue and white X-ray dots from Chandra flicker and twinkle on the tree, like the lights on a Christmas tree.

ChandraScience, 5 months ago to Astro

For our scientist followers:

The #ChandraXray Cycle 26 Call for Proposals has been released!

The deadline for proposals is March 14 at 6 PM EDT.

Further details can be found at the CfP: https://cxc.harvard.edu/proposer/CfP/
While details of the observatory are compiled in our Proposer's Observatory Guide (POG): https://cxc.harvard.edu/proposer/POG/

If you have any questions, please direct them to our HelpDesk: https://cxc.harvard.edu/helpdesk/

Good luck!
#Astrodon #Astronomy #XRaysAreTheBestRays

ChandraScience, 5 months ago to Astro

The Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) is pleased to announce that version 4.16 of CIAO ("Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations") and version 4.11.0 of Chandra CALDB ("Calibration Database") are available for download from https://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/ciao/download .

CIAO 4.16 includes version 8.5 of SAOImage DS9 (the astronomical imaging and data visualization application) and Version 5.5.3 of MARX (the Chandra on-orbit performance simulator). #Astrodon #ChandraXRay #AstronomySoftware

ChandraScience, 5 months ago to Astro

After 24 years exploring the X-ray Universe, the legacy of Chandra is secure; however, we want to also examine what scientific challenges remain for which the capabilities of Chandra are essential and would represent a crucial missed opportunity if they are not completed during Chandra's lifetime.

To that end, we have released a call for White Papers for our nominal 6 Ms Chandra Legacy Program. Details can be found here:

https://aas.org/posts/news/2023/11/chandra-legacy-program-call-white-papers

#Astrodon #ChandraXRay #Astrophysics #Astronomy

ChandraScience, 9 months ago to Astro

Our summer workshop is underway! #HRXS23, discussing High Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy, has brought researchers -- from students to distinguished experts -- to Cambridge to discuss the past, present, and future of high-res spectra with Chandra, as well as our friends at XMM, XRISM, and missions yet to come!

#Astrodon #ChandraXray #Astronomy #Astrophysics #AstroConference #XraysAreTheBestRays #CambridgeMA

A large group of people mingling in a large room; they have name badges and are milling around a table with food.

ChandraScience, 10 months ago to Astro

Chandra Cycle 25 Peer Review Results Released!

Lists of targets, archive proposals, and theory proposals recommended by the Cycle 25 Peer Review are now posted at:

https://cxc.harvard.edu/target_lists/cycle25/index.html

Congratulations to all successful proposers, and thank you to everyone involved in the peer review process!
#Astrodon #Astronomy #ChandraXRay

ChandraScience, 10 months ago to Astro

This weekend we celebrated our 24th Birthday! Since our launch on the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999 (Eileen Collins commanding) we have been exploring the cosmos and bringing the high energy Universe into focus. Here's to 24 more years!

#Astrodon #Astronomy #ChandraXRay #NASA #Science #XRaysAreTheBestRays #SpaceShuttle #Astrophysics

The open payload bay of the Space Shuttle, with the Earth overhead. A large, shiny, cylindrical object is being lifted out of the bay at an angle.
A rocket seen at some distance, with the blackness of space behind. It is a bright white with gold thruster stage, and on the back is a gray, cylindrical object, even larger in size.
Eileen M. Collins in Space. She has short hair that floats freely in microgravity and wears a green sweatshirt. She is smiling as she looks at the camera, but in front of her are technical documents she was reading.

ChandraScience, 1 year ago to space

What the "H" is this?

Scientists using the #Chandra X-Ray Observatory have found an "H"-shaped structure in the multimillion-degree gas around Messier 84. The researchers mapped the hot gas to within 100 light years from the galaxy's central supermassive black hole with #ChandraXRay and compared that to #VLA radio images of the black holes jets to better understand how black holes feed from and impact their surroundings. #Astronomy #Astrodon

Learn more: https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2023/m84/

Four panel figure showing four views of the system. The top left is the same image as the previous image, but with figures labeled. The top right is an optical image of an elliptical galaxy, labeled M84. It is yellow, peaks in the center, oval, and otherwise featureless. The bottom left is a zoom-in on the center of the X-ray image; it is mostly diffuse globs of pink, with a bright central region labeled "Supermassive Black Hole." The bottom-right image is the radio data in blue: there is a central source, and two extensions -- one up, one down -- that disperse outward. The central source is the supermassive black hole and the extensions are the jets.