Marshall Astrophysics

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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…

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This artist’s concept depicts a smaller white dwarf star pulling material from a larger star, right, into an accretion disk. Earlier this year, scientists used NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer) to study a white dwarf star and its X-ray polarization.

January 6, 2026

By Michael Allen For the first time, scientists have used NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer) to study a…

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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 30, 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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Painting Galaxy Clusters by Numbers (and Physics)

December 10, 2025

Galaxy clusters are the most massive objects in the universe held together by gravity, containing up to several…

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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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This graphic features data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory of the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant that reveals that the star’s interior violently rearranged itself mere hours before it exploded. The main panel of this graphic is Chandra data that shows the location of different elements in the remains of the explosion: silicon (represented in red), sulfur (yellow), calcium (green) and iron (purple). The blue color reveals the highest-energy X-ray emission detected by Chandra in Cas A and an expanding blast wave. The inset reveals regions with wide ranges of relative abundances of silicon and neon. This data, plus computer modeling, reveal new insight into how massive stars like Cas A end their lives.

August 28, 2025

The inside of a star turned on itself before it spectacularly exploded, according to a new study from…

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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…

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An illustration of a black hole with a dark circle surrounded by light discs.

August 13, 2025

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

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This release features an artist's illustration of a Jupiter-sized planet closely orbiting a faint red star. An inset image, showing the star in X-ray light from Chandra, is superimposed on top of the illustration at our upper left corner.

July 17, 2025

A star is unleashing a barrage of X-rays that is causing a closely-orbiting, young planet to wither away an astonishing rate, according…

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

NASA’s IXPE Measures White Dwarf Star for First Time

NASA’s Chandra Rings in New Year With Champagne Cluster

NASA IXPE’s Longest Observation Solves Black Hole Jets Mystery

Painting Galaxy Clusters by Numbers (and Physics)

NASA’s Chandra Finds Black Hole With Tremendous Growth

NASA’s Chandra Reveals Star’s Inner Conflict Before Explosion

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

NASA IXPE’s ‘Heartbeat Black Hole’ Measurements Challenge Current Theories

NASA’s Chandra Finds Baby Exoplanet is Shrinking