1,721,996 research outputs found
Chandra: Ask An Astrophysicist
No full textThis is a collection of questions relevant to the science and mission of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, submitted by students and the general public, posted with answers by experts in the field. Questions are organized in categories such as cosmology, black holes, normal stars, dark matter, etc. Educational levels: Middle school, High school, Undergraduate lower division, Middle school, High school, Undergraduate lower division, Informal education
Chandra Images and False Color
No full textThis is the Chandra X-ray Observatory photo album website. It begins with an introduction on the electromagnetic spectrum, focusing on X-rays in particular. It also contains information on false color images. The images in this photo gallery were taken between 1999 and 2004 by the Chandra telescope. Each image includes a description and a link to more information about the object. Additional resources such as podcasts and other multimedia projects are also included. This is a nice comprehensive look at the makeup of light and research into this area
Chandra X-Ray Observatory -First Year Science Highlights
Get PDFAbstract. The Chandra X-ray Observatory achieved orbit on July 23, 1999, and began science observing in October 1999. Now over a year since the first light image of Cas-A, Chandra has observed several hundred science targets and many calibration objects. A few highlights from these data are presented -including a discussion of the spatially resolved spectrum of supernova ejecta in Cas-A and X-ray emission from the central regions of M31, the nearby AGN Cen-A, and the quasar 3C273
Contributions of the NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory
Get PDFNASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory performed its first observations over a decade ago. Chandra's spectacular images and detailed spectra of astrophysical systems ranging from solar system objects to distant galaxies and galaxy clusters have provided information on such diverse topics as the properties of planetary and cometary atmospheres, stellar formation and demise, black hole-galaxy-cluster interactions, and properties of dark matter and dark energy. This presentation highlights some discoveries made with Chandra and briefly discusses future prospects
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory: An Overview of Its Success
Get PDFThe Chandra X-Ray Observatory was designed for three years of operation with a goal of five. Launched on July 23,1999 this Great Observatory is now beginning its 8th year of operation, The Observatory is an outstanding example of one of NASA's technical and scientific success stories. The reasons for that success will be reviewed and some of the outstanding scientific discoveries will be presented
Modeling Contamination Migration on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory - III
Get PDFDuring its first 16 years of operation, the cold (about -60 C) optical blocking filter of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory, has accumulated a growing layer of molecular contamination that attenuates low-energy x rays. Over the past few years, the accumulation rate, spatial distribution, and composition have changed. This evolution has motivated further analysis of contamination migration within and near the ACIS cavity, in part to evaluate potential bake-out scenarios intended to reduce the level of contamination. Keywords: X-ray astronomy, CCDs, contamination, modeling and simulation, spacecraft operation
Modeling Contamination Migration on the Chandra X-ray Observatory - II
Get PDFDuring its first 14 years of operation, the cold (about -60C) optical blocking filter of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory, has accumulated a growing layer of molecular contamination that attenuates low-energy x rays. Over the past few years, the accumulation rate, spatial distribution, and composition have changed. This evolution has motivated further analysis of contamination migration within and near the ACIS cavity. To this end, the current study employs a higher-fidelity geometric model of the ACIS cavity, detailed thermal modeling based upon temperature data, and a refined model of the molecular transport
Synchrotron Radiation from Outer Space and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
No full textThe universe provides numerous extremely interesting astrophysical sources of synchrotron X radiation. The Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray missions provide powerful probes of these and other cosmic X-ray sources. Chandra is the X-ray component of NASA's Great Observatory Program which also includes the Hubble Space telescope, the Spitzer Infrared Telescope Facility, and the now defunct Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory provides the best angular resolution (sub-arcsecond) of any previous, current, or planned (for the foreseeable near future) space-based X-ray instrumentation. We present here a brief overview of the technical capability of this X-Ray observatory and some of the remarkable discoveries involving cosmic synchrotron sources
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory
No full textThe Chandra X-Ray Observatory is the X-ray component of NASA's Great observatories which also includes the recently decommissioned Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the soon to be launched Space Infra Red Telescope Facility. Chandra is a unique X-ray astronomy facility for high-resolution imaging and for high-resolution spectroscopy. Chandra's performance advantage over other X-ray observatories is analogous to that of the Hubble Space Telescope over ground-based observatories. Chandra is a NASA facility that provides scientific data to the international astronomical community in response to proposals for its use. Data becomes public one year after the observation. The Observatory is the product of the efforts of many commercial, academic, and government organizations in the United States and Europe. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) manages the Project and provides Project Science; TRW Space and Electronics Group served as prime contractor responsible for providing the spacecraft, the telescope, and assembling and testing the observatory; the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) provides technical support and is responsible for ground operations
Mission Planning for the CHANDRA X-Ray Observatory
No full textThe CHANDRA x-ray observatory started life as the Advanced X-ray Facility (AXAF) but was renamed Chandra in December of 1998 at the of a nationwide contest by NASA to name the new observatory. The honors the Nobel Prize winning astrophysicist S. Chandrasekar who astrophysics at the University of Chicago for more than 50 years, following graduate studies at Cambridge University in England. The observatory has been under construction for a decade under the management of the Observatory observatory, Projects office at the Marshall Space Flight Center; the same office that oversaw the construction of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. This observatory is a member of NASA's great observatory series of missions of which Hubble and Compton are members. This paper describes the mission planning that was conducted at MSFC to design the orbit and launch window that would permit the new observatory to function properly
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