Chandra X-Ray Observatory

This image contains lower-, medium-, and higher-energy X-rays in red, green, and blue respectively.

January 24, 2026

Like a recording artist who has had a long career, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has a “back catalog” of cosmic…

Supernova Remnant Video From NASA’s Chandra Is Decades in Making

January 7, 2026

A new video shows the evolution of Kepler’s Supernova Remnant using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured…

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$This release features a composite image of a galaxy cluster first discovered on New Year's Eve day, 2020. The cluster appears here as a large collection of brilliant white lights, each a distinct galaxy. A neon purple cloud stretches across the cluster's crowded core. Many of the hundred-plus galaxies in the cluster are in two clumps of galaxies towards the top and bottom of center. Some are encircled by a faint glowing haze, while a few foreground stars gleam with diffraction spikes. Some of the smaller galaxies are tinted blue, orange, or red, and some appear more oblong than round, suggesting spiral shapes viewed edge-on. The neon purple cloud sits at the heart of the image, surrounding the most densely-packed part of the cluster. This cloud, which spreads vertically across the cluster, is multimillion-degree gas observed by Chandra. The two clumps of observable galaxies, and the spread of superheated gas, reveal that the Champagne Cluster is in fact two clusters in the process of colliding. With the two clusters of sparkling light clinking together, and the auspicious discovery date, astronomers have dubbed the merged cosmic structure "The Champagne Cluster".$

December 31, 2025

Celebrate the New Year with the “Champagne Cluster,” a galaxy cluster seen in this new image from NASA’s…

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Chandra & IXPE composite image of the Perseus Cluster.

December 16, 2025

Written by Michael Allen An international team of astronomers using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) has identified…

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Webb near-infrared data combined with Chandra X-ray data of the Bullet Cluster show many overlapping objects, including foreground stars, galaxies in galaxy clusters, and distorted background galaxies behind the galaxy clusters. The objects are all at various distances set against the black background of space. Most galaxies appear as tiny fuzzy ovals in white, orange, or red. A slightly larger, very bright, light blue spiral galaxy is at center. To its immediate left and right are two large bright pink splotches representing X-rays. The right pink area has a rounded nose facing right, where it is darker pink, and fades to the left as a triangular shape. This is referred to as the Bullet. To the far left and far right, next to the pink regions, are two blue regions representing dark matter mass. The left blue region is a large, long oval at an angle. The blue region at right is a far smaller oval.

November 15, 2025

This image released on June 30, 2025, combines data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra…

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Scientists combine the power of 3 telescopes to capture a stunning image of Westerlund 1

September 30, 2025

Pictured are JWST, Hubble, Chandra, and Swift space telescopes (Image source: NASA; edited) Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray…

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An artist's concept of a supermassive black hole, a surrounding disk of material falling towards the black hole and a jet containing particles moving away at close to the speed of light. This black hole represents a recently-discovered quasar powered by a black hole. New Chandra observations indicate that the black hole is growing at a rate that exceeds the usual limit for black holes, called the Eddington Limit. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/M. Weiss

September 18, 2025

A black hole is growing at one of the fastest rates ever recorded, according to a team of…

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Scores of gleaming white orbs and tiny specks pack the blackness of space, surrounded by a purple haze, and mottled golden clouds.

September 16, 2025

Westerlund 1, the biggest and closest “super” star cluster to Earth, dazzles in this image released on July…

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Near the center of these images lies the pulsar B1509-58, a rapidly spinning neutron star that is only about 12 miles in diameter. This tiny object is responsible for producing an intricate nebula (called MSH 15-52) that spans over 150 light-years, or about 900 trillion miles. The nebula, which is produced by energetic particles, resembles a human hand with a palm and extended fingers pointing to the upper right in a view from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Radio data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) provides new information about this exploded star and its environment. This image also contains optical data of hydrogen gas. The bright red and gold areas near the top of the image show the remains of the supernova that formed the pulsar.

August 20, 2025

In 2009, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory released a captivating image: a pulsar and its surrounding nebula that is…

NASA’s Chandra Releases Deep Cut From Catalog of Cosmic Recordings

Supernova Remnant Video From NASA’s Chandra Is Decades in Making

NASA’s Chandra Rings in New Year With Champagne Cluster

NASA IXPE’s Longest Observation Solves Black Hole Jets Mystery

Mapping Dark Matter – NASA

Scientists combine the power of 3 telescopes to capture a stunning image of Westerlund 1

NASA’s Chandra Finds Black Hole With Tremendous Growth

An Eye-catching Star Cluster – NASA

X-ray and Radio go ‘Hand in Hand’ in New Image