Chandra X-Ray Observatory

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The images of Trumpler 3 and NGC 2353 are open clusters that contains hundreds of young stars that are gravitationally bound together because they formed from the same gas cloud. In this composite image of the clusters, X-rays from Chandra (purple) have been combined with an optical image from the PanSTARRS telescope in Hawaii (red, green, and blue). The stars look like fuzzy dots of different sizes dotting the darkness of space.

April 23, 2026

These images, released on April 14, 2026, show two open star clusters, Trumpler 3 (left) and NGC 2353…

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NASA Finds Young Stars Dim in X-rays Surprisingly Quickly

April 14, 2026

Scientists have found that young stellar cousins of our Sun are calming down and dimming more quickly in…

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NASA-JAXA’s XRISM Telescope Clocks Hot Wind of Galaxy M82

March 25, 2026

For the first time, astronomers have directly measured the speed of superheated gas billowing from a cauldron of…

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NASA’s IXPE observed the outer rim of the supernova remnant highlighted in purple in the inset. Data from IXPE is combined with data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton. The yellow represents low-energy X-rays, while blue shows high-energy X-rays detected by Chandra and XMM-Newton. The starfield in the image comes from the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOILab).

March 25, 2026

NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) mission has taken a new observation of a supernova, RCW 86, helping…

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NASA Discovers Crash of Extreme Stars in Unexpected Site

March 11, 2026

A fleet of NASA missions has likely uncovered a collision between two ultradense stars in a tiny galaxy…

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Three new Chandra sonifications of data of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus have been released. Planets and other Solar System bodies can reflect X-rays given off by the Sun, which Chandra can detect. Sonification is a process that translates data captured by Chandra and other telescopes into sound. In addition to X-rays from Chandra, these new sonifications contain data from Hubble, Cassini, and Keck telescopes. In this image, the amount of diffuse X-rays from a donut-shaped ring of energetic particles around Jupiter, seen on the left and right side of the planet, has been enhanced compared to the amount of X-rays from the planet's auroras, seen at the poles. As the scan moves left to right, it encounters X-rays that bracket the planet on either side, and this plays as woodwind sounds. As we pass over the planet itself, seen in an infrared image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the sounds become fuller as the infrared data is represented by other instruments. Since Jupiter is tilted slightly, the pitch descends as the scan passes over the bright band near the equator and through the Great Red Spot. On the other side, more X-ray data from Chandra flanks the planet and can be heard as gusty wind sounds at the end.

February 26, 2026

In late February, people in the Northern Hemisphere can look up for a special sight: six planets will…

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February 23, 2026

For the first time, a much younger version of the Sun has been caught red-handed blowing bubbles in…

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