Credit: Chandra X-ray Center; NASA
NASA's Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999. AXAF, soon to be renamed the Chandra X-ray Observatory (after famed astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar) provides astronomers with the ability to explore never-before-seen details of the X-ray universe. Astronomers (and other humans) are now celebrating an entire decade of discovery with this unique space telescope. Chandra has explored the mystery of star birth and death; measured the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, discovered a bizarre distant galaxy with two supermassive black holes, and measured the history of supermassive black hole formation; saw a collision of galaxy clusters powerful enough to strip apart dark and visible matter; and seen an entirely new type of supernova. Astronomers (and other humans) are looking forward to Chandra's many years of discovery still to come.
Published: July 27, 2009
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Page Author: Dr. Michael F. Corcoran
Last modified Friday, 20-Apr-2012 15:27:51 EDT