Showing posts with label NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Show all posts

Friday, October 30, 2026

Helpful Cosmic Ghost Brings Stellar Birth, Not Death

Carina Nebula (NGC 3372)
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/N.Smith(Univ of Minnesota);
Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare



  • A region of the Carina Nebula, which is located about 7,500 light years from Earth, contains a structure reminiscent of a ghost.

    •
  • This cosmic apparition, in fact, hosts stellar birth where a new generation of stars is thriving.

    •
  • A new image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope reveals this cloud of gas and dust with young stars.

    •
  • The unusual shape may come from powerful radiation from some of the region’s massive stars outside this field of view.


An eerie structure resembling a ghostly figure has been captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope. Unlike most of the scary associations with this topic, however, this cosmic apparition hosts stellar birth where a new generation of stars is thriving.

The phantom-like structure is part of the Carina Nebula, which is located about 7,500 light years from Earth within the Milky Way galaxy. The Carina Nebula is a vast star-forming region and contains some of the most massive stars in our Galaxy, including the famous Eta Carinae system that astronomers suspect could soon explode as a supernova.

In this latest representation of this region, X-rays detected by Chandra (pink) — that reveal young stars in the nebula — have been combined with Webb’s infrared data (red, green, and blue).

The glowing ghost is an isolated cloud of gas and dust that has a glowing hooded head and a sweeping cape-like tail. Because of their resemblance to comets, astronomers sometimes objects refer to these objects as cometary globules despite having no connection to the traveling bodies. The shape may come from the cloud being eroded by powerful radiation from some of the region’s massive stars — including Eta Carinae — that are outside the field of view in this image.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.




Visual Description:
A composite image of a small portion of the Carina Nebula reveals a striking golden-orange cloud of gas and dust that loosely resembles a ghostly figure. Its glowing hooded head and a sweeping cape-like tail stretch through a star-filled background of rich blues, reds, and greens. Brilliant blue-white stars sparkle in the scene, while bright pink dots of X-ray light reveal young stars scattered across this eerie stellar nursery.


Fast Facts for Carina Nebula "Ghost":
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/N.Smith(Univ of Minnesota); Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. F/rattare
Release Date: October 28, 2026
Scale: Image is about 4.3 arcmin (9.4 light-years) across.
Category:    Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000): RA 10h 45m 53.1s | Dec -59° 57´ 45.9"
Constellation: Carina
Observation Dates: August 28, 2008
Observation Time: 16 hours 30 minutes
Obs. ID: 9483
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: magenta; Optical: red, green, and blue; Infrared: red, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 7,500 light-years from Earth

Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

Friday, October 16, 2026

NASA's Chandra Breaks Down 'Treble Clef's' Galaxy Cluster Collision

VLSS J0318.9+5755 (The Treble Clef Cluster)
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-IRA/A. Botteon et al.; Infrared: UKIDSS-GPS ; Radio: ASTRON/LOFAR; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk



  • Using Chandra, astronomers have discovered the origin of an unusual source of radio waves called the “Treble Clef”.

    •
  • Scientists use this nickname because the radio source has a distinct shape resembling the musical symbol.

    •
  • They determined the structure was formed by an outburst from a supermassive black hole followed by a collision between two galaxy clusters.

    •
  • This new image contains X-rays from Chandra and eROSITA, radio data from LOFAR, and infrared data from UKIRT.


Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to break down the cause of a remarkable formation of radio waves they have nicknamed the “Treble Clef” because its distinct shape strongly resembles the musical symbol.

The researchers discovered the Treble Clef is likely caused by an outburst from a supermassive black hole, followed by a collision of two galaxy clusters. A paper describing the findings, led by Andrea Botteon of the National Institute for Astrophysics, or INAF, in Italy, published Wednesday in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal.

An explanation for the Treble Clef has been particularly difficult to find because the formation lies almost directly behind the plane of the Milky Way, meaning that stars, gas, and dust from our home galaxy largely block the view from Earth. However, by using telescopes that can peer through the intervening material, a team of researchers was able to identify what is responsible for this uncommon structure.

NASA’s Chandra and the German Extended RÖntgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) X-ray telescope found diffuse, hot gas at the location of the Treble Clef, showing that a galaxy cluster hosts the object. The researchers also determined the galaxy cluster is, in fact, two clusters in the process of merging. Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the universe, containing hundreds of individual galaxies and huge reservoirs of superheated gas.

This new composite image of the Treble Clef and its cluster shows the multimillion-degree gas detected in X-rays by Chandra and eROSITA in blue, with some of the Chandra data derived from a special technique the authors used to highlight important features in the Chandra data. Radio data shown in red from the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), a large network of radio telescopes in Europe reveals the doppelganger of the musical notation. The final piece of the combined image comes from infrared data obtained by the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, appearing mostly white.

The authors concluded that the Treble Clef likely formed in a two-stage process. First, an earlier outburst from a supermassive black hole in the galaxy cluster’s center drove clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields away at close to the speed of light. This led to a type of cosmic crescendo and initially produced bright radio waves that later faded as the particles lost energy. Next, the collision between the two clusters compressed or reenergized the cloud, which became brighter again in radio waves. Shock waves — similar to the sonic booms from supersonic jets — from the collision may have played a role in this reenergizing process.

To reveal evidence for the cluster collision in the Chandra data, the authors used a special technique that examined how much the cluster’s hot gas deviates from a symmetrical shape. Most of the hot gas is symmetrical and shaped approximately like an oval. The authors removed this symmetrical oval shape from the original X-ray image. The remaining X-ray emission in the residual image shows t is brightest on the left and right, and faintest in the center. The new composite image combines both the original X-ray and the residual X-ray images.

The brighter X-rays in the residual image, toward the left and right of the cluster’s center, imply that the collision between the two clusters likely occurred along the left-right direction as seen in the image. The researchers think the direct collision between the two clusters occurred a few hundred million years ago, and the clusters are now moving away from each other.

The resemblance to a treble clef is a case of pareidolia, the phenomenon when people see familiar shapes in random data, since there is no scientific connection to the musical notation. A second interpretation of pareidolia for this radio emission structure is a dragon that is being viewed from the side.


NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.




Fast Facts for VLSS J0318.9+5755, The Treble Clef Cluster

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-IRA/A. Botteon et al.; Infrared: UKIDSS-GPS ; Radio: ASTRON/LOFAR; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
Release Date: October 14, 2026
Scale: Image is about 14.5 arcmin (6 million light-years) across.
Category: Groups & Clusters of Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA 03h 18m 57.8s | Dec +57° 54´ 59.2"
Constellation: Camelopardalis
Observation Dates: 4 observations in April 2026
Observation Time: 13 hours 34 minutes
Obs. ID: 30487, 32286-32288
Instrument: ACIS
References: Botteon, A., et al., 2026, A&A, accepted.
Color Code: X-ray: blue; Infrared: red, green, blue; Radio: red
Distance Estimate: About 1.55 billion light-years from Earth (z=0.117)

Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Chandra & Swift: Celebrating NASA's Chandra and Swift Exploring Space Together

>
SMC - NGC 1097 - NGC 4151 - NGC 1365
Chandra & Swift Galaxy Image Collection, Unlabeled.
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

JPEG (530.6 kb) - Large JPEG (12.1 MB) - Tiff (29.3 MB) - More Images

A Quick Look: Celebrating NASA's Chandra and Swift Exploring Space Together - More Videos


  • To help commemorate NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, four composite images are being released.

    •
  • Swift, launched in 2004, can quickly observe changing events in space in ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light.

    •
  • NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory frequently worked in tandem with Swift to study mysterious objects and phenomena.
    • .
  • These new Chandra/Swift images include a view of the Small Magellanic Cloud, NGC 1097, NGC 4151, and NGC 1365.


As NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory nears its final days in orbit, it is an excellent opportunity to celebrate this telescope and its place in NASA’s fleet of eyes on the universe.

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is one of the many telescopes that frequently teamed up with Swift to make important discoveries about the cosmos. Chandra and Swift have complementary abilities. While Swift can quickly capture rapidly-changing events in space in ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light, Chandra is able to gather more detailed data with its sharp X-ray vision. When combined, these two telescopes helped provide a more complete picture of events and objects in space than either could alone.

This new image collection is just a sample of the many cosmic objects that Chandra and Swift have both observed in the pursuit of learning more about the mysteries of space

SMC - NGC 1097 - NGC 4151 - NGC 1365 (Labeled)
Chandra & Swift Galaxy Image Collection, Labeled.
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

Top left: The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is one of the Milky Way’s closest galactic neighbors, and orbits around our home galaxy, at a distance of about 200,000 light-years from Earth. This new view of the SMC contains a multitude of layers of light including ultraviolet data from Swift (magenta and cyan), X-rays from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton (red, green and navy), infrared data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory (orange), and optical data the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile (pink, peach and purple).

Top right: NGC 1097 is a spiral galaxy about 48 million light-years from Earth that contains a supermassive black hole about 140 million times more massive than our Sun. The region around the black hole glows brightly in X-rays as material nearing the black hole is heated to millions of degrees. In this combined view, X-rays from Chandra (yellow and orange) have been combined with ultraviolet data from Swift (blue) along with an optical light image from Hubble and a ground-based telescope (red, green, and blue).

Bottom left: NGC 4151 is also a spiral galaxy with an actively-growing supermassive black hole at its center. The X-ray emission detected by Chandra (orange) has been attributed to an outburst powered by the black hole. Ultraviolet data and X-ray light detected by Swift (magenta) has been combined with the Chandra data and added to an optical light image taken from the ground by an astrophotographer.

Bottom right: There is another growing giant hole at the center of the galaxy NGC 1365. Astronomers call these very bright cores “active galactic nuclei” (or AGN), which are fueled by a steady flow of material streaming onto the black hole. In this composite, there are X-rays from Chandra (purple) and Swift (magenta), ultraviolet data from Swift (teal), and an optical light image from a ground-based telescope.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.




Visual Description:

Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC)
A multilayered, composite image of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which resembles a highly detailed splatter painting. Here, splashes of burnt orange, neon purple, cyan blue, and brilliant white, in flecks ranging from minuscule pinpricks to fat smears, form a cloud roughly shaped like an upside-down letter V.

NGC 1097
A bright, composite image of spiral galaxy NGC 1097, viewed face on. The galaxy has gleaming cyan blue and neon purple arms spiraling around a central black hole, which is awash in glowing yellow X-ray light. At our upper right, the ends of the neatly corkscrewing arms are diffused, spread around a neighboring satellite galaxy.

NGC 4151
A brilliantly crisp composite image of spiral galaxy NGC 4151, viewed face on. The galaxy has a bright, golden orange and purple core with spiraling neon blue arms that are tight around the actively growing supermassive black hole at the center, but spread and grow wispy as they extend outward. At our lower left is a second spiral galaxy, NGC 4156, which appears small by comparison, and whose colorful, tightly wound arms give it the appearance of a swirly lollipop.

NGC 1365
A composite image of spiral galaxy NGC 1365, viewed face on. The galaxy has a glowing pale-yellow core at its center, surrounded by a muddle of clouds in various shades of purple. Extending out of this dense core are cloudy, light blue arms, which spiral outwards in an oval shape, stretching toward our upper left and lower right.


Fast Facts for Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC):
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO and ESA/XMM-Newton; UV: NASA/Penn State Univ/Swift and NASA/CAS/CNES/John Hoplins Univ. Applied Physics Laboratory; Optical: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/MCELS Team/Middlebury College/F. Winkler; Infrared: ESA/NASA/JPL-CalTech/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Release Date: October 8, 2026
Scale: Image is about 329 arcmin (19,000 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 00h 52m 44.8s | Dec: -72° 49' 43"
Constellation: Tucana and Hydrus
Observation Date(s): 22 observations from Dec 2012 to Mar 2014
Observation Time: 265 hours and 19 minutes (11 days 1 hour 19 minutes)
Obs. IDs: 14665-14674, 15498-15507, 16367, 16490
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: red, green, and blue; UV: magenta, green, and cyan; Optical: orange, green, blue, and magenta; Infrared: red, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 200,000 light-years from Earth


Fast Facts for NGC 1097:
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; UV: NASA/Penn State Univ./Swift; Optical: Mark Hanson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Release Date: October 8, 2026
Scale: Image is about 33.4 arcmin (440,000 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 2h 46m 19.1s | Dec: -30° 16' 29.6"
Constellation: Fornax
Observation Date(s): 7 observations from Jan 2001 to May 2025
Observation Time: 19 hours 32 minutes
Obs. IDs: 1611, 2339, 29637, 30142, 30937, 30938, 30948
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: red, green, and blue; UV: blue; Optical: red, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 45 million light-years from Earth


Fast Facts for NGC 4151:
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; UV: NASA/Penn State Univ./Swift; Optical: Mark Hanson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Release Date: October 8, 2026
Scale: Image is about 20 arcmin (300,000 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 12h 10m 32.60s | Dec: +39° 24' 20.40"
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Observation Date(s): March 27th and 29th, 2008
Observation Time: 50 hours 31 minutes (2 days 2 hours 31 min)
Obs. IDs: 9217, 9218
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: magenta; UV: blue; Optical: red, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 51 million light-years from Earth


Fast Facts for NGC 1365:
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; UV: NASA/Penn State Univ/Swift; Optical:Armen Akopian; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Release Date: October 8, 2026
Scale: Image is about 3.25 arcmin (53,000 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 3h 33m 36.4s | Dec: -36° 08′ 24.7"
Constellation: Fornax
Observation Date(s): 22 observations from Dec 2002, to May 2021
Observation Time: 164 hours 50 minutes (6 days 20 hours 50 minutes)
Obs. IDs: 3554, 6868-6873, 13920, 13921, 24737, 24787-24795, 25015, 25024, 25036
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: magenta; UV: red, green, and blue; Optical: red, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 56 million light-years from Earth

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, October 01, 2026

A Cleaner Look at Our Galactic Center's Hot Mess

Sagittarius A East (Labeled)
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/McGill Univ./M. Balakrishnan et al.;
Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA; Sub-mm: EAO/James Clerk Maxwell Telecope;
Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds, N. Wolk

JPEG (352.3 kb) - Large JPEG (2 MB) - Tiff (74.1 MB) -More Images

Tour: NASA Connects Little Red Dots With Chandra, Webb (Video)


The center of the Milky Way galaxy is a chaotic place. In addition to the 4-million-solar mass black hole, known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the region is full of gas, dust, strong magnetic fields, and stars in various stages of life — from birth to death.

Now, astronomers have released the clearest view yet of the remains of an exploded star that sits amid this cluttered galactic environment. The supernova remnant is named Sagittarius A East, or Sgr A East, and it is the closest remnant to Sgr A* that astronomers know about.

Sgr A East emits light in many wavelengths, including X-rays that NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory can see. Supernova remnants like Sgr A East give off X-rays because powerful shock waves rumble outward into space after the explosion and the stellar debris is superheated to millions of degrees.

In this packed galactic landscape, it is difficult to tease out what light is coming from the Sgr A East supernova remnant and what emanates from other objects. Astronomers previously have identified the primary contributors. The two main sources of X-rays in this image, besides the supernova remnant itself, are colliding winds from a cluster of hot, massive stars and a diffuse commingled glow from many fainter overlapping X-ray sources. (This latter category is composed mainly of double star systems including stars like our Sun orbiting white dwarf stars.)

This new composite image of Sgr A East and the region around it contains X-rays from Chandra that are not — for the first time — contaminated by X-rays from other sources in this crowded field. A team of astronomers used a special technique to separate the three main sources of X-rays and create this new cleaner view of Sgr A East. This analysis also allowed the authors to make maps of the elements within the supernova remnant, including iron, sulfur, argon, and calcium.

The new image of Sgr A East shows lower-energy X-rays detected by Chandra in green and high-energy ones in light blue, which appear purple in the middle of the supernova remnant. The researchers removed the point-like sources of X-rays so they could study the diffuse emission in more detail. The X-ray data have been combined with radio data from the NSF’s Very Large Array in red and submillimeter-wavelength data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in dark blue to complete this new composite view.

The bright radio emission surrounds X-rays from Sgr A East as well as the region around Sgr A*. The supermassive black hole is located at the center of the yellow spiral structure to the right of the purple X-rays from Sgr A East.

This new image will also allow scientists to examine how the winds from the stars in the nearby cluster have shaped the supernova remnant’s evolution. This could help reveal the identity of the star that exploded to create Sgr A East and whether the supernova remnant has triggered outbursts from Sgr A* in the past.

Because Sgr A East is so close to Sgr A*, astronomers have long wondered if they influence one another. The authors’ new work supports the idea that Sgr A East has played an active role in the black hole’s environment by injecting energy into the region and keeping the gas surrounding Sgr A* hot and turbulent over its lifetime of about 10,000 years, although its exact age remains uncertain. They have shown that Sgr A East has expanded into, compressed and heated the gas surrounding it, shaping its three-dimensional asymmetrical structure. A paper describing these results with these authors appeared in The Astrophysical Journal, and was led by Mayura Balakrishnan from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.



Visual Description:
This release features a composite image of a supermassive black hole and supernova remnant close to each other at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. In a packed galactic landscape such as this, it is often difficult to discern what light emanates from which object. For this image, astronomers used a special technique to separate the glowing X-ray sources. The result is a picture with distinct elements, and an overall look not unlike an impressionist oil painting with patches of diffused color.

At the heart of the image is a light purple cloud and a spiraling, bright yellow tangle. The purple cloud represents X-rays from the center of the supernova remnant, Sagittarius A East. Inside the bright yellow tangle is the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, which has the mass of 4-million suns. Surrounding the remnants of the exploded star and its black hole neighbor, is a neon red gas cloud with trails drifting toward our upper right. Here, red represents radio data from the NSF’s Very Large Array.

A faint, dark blue cloud, barely discernible when set against the blackness of space, begins at our upper left and exits the bottom of the frame. This is submillimeter-wavelength data from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Mottled, faint patches of forest green stretch across the image from our lower left to our upper right. These are lower-energy X-rays detected by Chandra that are possibly linked to past outbursts from Sagittarius A*.


Fast Facts for Sagittarius A East
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/McGill Univ./M. Balakrishnan et al.; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA; Sub-mm: EAO/James Clerk Maxwell Telecope; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds, N. Wolk
Release Date: September 30, 2026
Scale: Image is about 7 arcmin (53 light-years) across.
Category: Black Holes, Supernovas & Supernova Remnants
Coordinates (J2000): RA 17h 45m 40.0s | Dec -20° 00´ 28.1"
Constellation: Sagittarius
Observation Dates: 35 observations from Sept 1999 to Aug 2020
Observation Time: 422 hours 51 minutes (5 days 6 hours 51 minutes)
Obs. ID: 242, 1561, 2943, 2951-2954, 3392, 3393, 3549, 3663, 3665, 4683, 4684, 5950-5954, 6363, 9169-9174, 10556, 11843, 13016, 13017, 14941, 14942, 22707, 22937, 23295
Instrument: ACIS
References: Balakrishnan, M, et al., 2026, ApJ, 1003,128.
Color Code: X-ray: green and cyan; Radio: red; Sub-mm: blue
Distance Estimate: About 26,000 light-years from Earth

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

NASA's Chandra Unveils Mysterious X-ray Objects

Fast Facts for M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy)
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Muhibullah et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI;
Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk



  • Astronomers found a new class of objects using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

    •
  • They dubbed these “hypersoft X-ray sources” (HSS) because they give off very low-energy X-rays that are difficult to detect.

  • Despite their stealth output, HSS may be emitting large amounts of ultraviolet radiation.

    •
  • This discovery may help scientists unravel mysteries around Type Ia supernovas and the intergalactic medium.


Astronomers have discovered a new class of objects in multiple galaxies. This result, made possible by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and outlined in our latest press release, may help scientists solve two outstanding mysteries in astrophysics.

The face-on spiral galaxy M101, also known as the Pinwheel, is one of the galaxies where the new type of object was found. This new M101 composite image contains X-ray data from Chandra (purple) that have been combined with an optical image from the Hubble Space Telescope (red, green, and blue). Circles in an annotated version of the image show the location of the seven newly-discovered objects in M101.

M101 with illustrated circles calling out seven of the newly-discovered objects. (Labeked)
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Muhibullah et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI;
Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk

Researchers found a total of 84 of these mysterious objects in M101, Messier 31, and four elliptical galaxies. The objects were named “hypersoft X-ray sources” because they give off very low-energy X-rays that Chandra was only able to detect after long exposures. Because low-energy X-rays border energetic ultraviolet radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum, the team determined that these sources are likely producing large amounts of energetic ultraviolet radiation.

Astronomers are trying to determine what type — or types — of objects are responsible for these low-energy X-rays and intense ultraviolet radiation outputs. The most likely explanation, according to the team, is that these systems involve a black hole, neutron star or white dwarf pulling material from a companion star. The material pulled from the companion star is heated up to produce X-rays before falling onto the white dwarf or neutron star, or into the black hole. While scientists have discovered many binary systems over the years, astronomers have never seen any behaving like this before.

The discovery of this new class of sources suggests that astronomers have missed large populations of binary systems with energetic ultraviolet radiation until now. One idea is that these binary systems are the precursors to Type Ia supernova explosions, which astronomers used to discover the acceleration of the universe’s expansion.

Another open question that these hypersoft X-ray sources could help answer involves the stripping of electrons from gas in between galaxies. Scientists know this phenomenon plays an important role in the lifecycle of the stars, but they still need to accurately account for all of the energy sources that contribute to this process. This newly-discovered class of objects may play a significant role in this stripping.

These hypersoft X-ray sources were not found until now because in addition to the low-energy X-ray output that requires large amounts of observing time from a telescope like Chandra, the high-energy ultraviolet radiation is readily absorbed by helium and hydrogen gas that fills the space in between the stars. This creates a “nearly impenetrable barrier” to look through.

A paper describing this result appears in the most recent issue of Nature Astronomy and is available here. The authors of this paper are Mustafa Muhibullah (University of Alabama), Jimmy Irwin (University of Alabama), and Rosanne DiStefano (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian).

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.




Fast Facts for M101, The Pinwheel Galaxy

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Muhibullah et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
Release Date: September 9, 2026
Scale: Image is about 14 arcmin (86,000 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA 14h 03m 12.5s | Dec +54° 20´ 56.2"
Constellation: Ursa Major
Observation Dates: 25 observations from March 2000 to January 2005
Observation Time: 274 hours (11 days 10 hours)
Obs. ID: 934, 3095, 4731-4737, 5296, 5297, 5300, 5309, 5322, 5323, 5337-5340, 6114, 6115, 6118, 6152, 6169, 6170, 6175
Instrument: ACIS
Also Known As: NGC 5457, The Pinwheel Galaxy
References: Muhibullah, M., Irwin, J.A., and Di Stefano, R., 2026, Nature Astronomy (available here)
Color Code: X-ray: purple; Optical: red, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 21 million light-years from Earth

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Friday, August 14, 2026

NASA Telescopes Create Colorful 'Craft' From Nearby Nebula

3 Doradus
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J. Rodriguez et al; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds



  • A new study of the Tarantula Nebula is answering questions about why this star formation region in the Large Magellanic Cloud is losing energy from its center.

    •
  • By combining data from Chandra, Hubble and Webb, and Spitzer, researchers identified what has tamed the Tarantula and where the energy has gone.

    •
  • This new composite image has layers from three of these telescopes: Chandra (blue), Hubble (green), and Webb (red).

    •
  • Scientists have concluded that energy has been lost through leakage of gas, the mixing of hot and cold gas and by conduction of heat.


Like a collage made of layered sheets of colored cellophane, a vibrant new image layers observations of a famous star-forming nebula from NASA space telescopes. The resulting cosmic “craft” reveals new details about the star formation region known as 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula.

Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way about 160,000 light-years from Earth, the Tarantula has thousands of young stars embedded in a vibrant honeycomb-like structure of gas and dust.

The new composite image contains X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has repeatedly observed the Tarantula Nebula over the course of its mission, in the layer that appears in blue. The X-ray data reveals gas blown away by winds from the surfaces of young, massive stars and heated to millions of degrees by shock waves, like sonic booms from supersonic jets.

The red represents infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope showing thousands of young stars, plus swaths of cool dust that will provide the ingredients to form new stars and planets. Optical data in the green layer from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope uncovers hydrogen gas that is warmer than seen with Webb, as well as some individual stars through the nebula.

The composite image shows the full Hubble and Webb images of this region, as well as a large section of the Chandra image, all recently published in a research paper in the Astrophysical Journal. In some regions the blue Chandra layer stands alone, and in others it combines with either the red Webb data or the green Hubble data. In the middle region all three images overlap to provide a holistic view in red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus)
Optical + Infrared + X-ray

Previously, astronomers had studied the amount and the impact of energy produced by winds from young, massive stars in the Tarantula Nebula. Scientists expect that much of this energy should heat gas so that it produces X-rays. However, the research paper shows that there is much less X-ray-emitting gas in the nebula than expected. This led researchers to ask: Where has this energy gone and what tamed the Tarantula Nebula?

By studying the data from Chandra, Hubble, and Webb, combined with data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, the team concluded the Tarantula may be losing energy from several sources.

First, up to half of the hot gas is leaking through the shell walls of the gas and dust structures and escaping the nebula. Next, there is stirring and mixing between the cold gas near the shell walls and some of the hot gas, lowering the overall temperature of the gas. Finally, comparisons with computer simulations suggest the Tarantula may be losing energy through conduction. This involves direct physical contact between hot and cooler material, like with a frying pan on a burner, causing the hot and cooler material to equalize in temperature. In the case of the Tarantula Nebula, the hot gas would be conducting heat by being in direct contact with the cooler gas in the shells, especially in the densest regions. This scenario does not necessarily involve mixing the hot and cooler gas.

The combination of these three channels for losing large amounts of energy leads to this colorful and complex display revealed by NASA's telescopes working together.

Tarantula Nebula / 30 Doradus, cropped version. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J. Rodriguez et al; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds

The paper describing these results was led by Jennifer Rodriguez of The Ohio State University in Columbus. Additional authors on the paper include Laura Lopez, Ohio State; Lachlan Lancaster, Columbia University in New York City; Anna Rosen, San Diego State University; Omnaraynai Nayak, Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; Sebastian Lopez, Ohio State; Tyler Holland-Ashford, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Trinity Webb, Ohio State.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.




Visual Description:
This release features three images of the Tarantula Nebula, or 30 Doradus, a star-forming region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Each image represents a different wavelength of light, presented in a different color. When layered atop one another, like sheets of colored cellophane, they combine to produce a vibrant and informative singular image.
The base layer of the nearly square, combined image, features a blanket of wispy blue clouds against a black backdrop. These clouds represent hot gas observed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This layer reveals that gas has been blown from the surfaces of young, massive stars, and heated to millions of degrees by shock waves.
The second layer is a rectangular image cutting diagonally across the cloudy blue square, tilted from our upper left down toward our lower right. This layer features roiling red clouds and tiny, gleaming, red specks. These are swaths of cool, ingredient-rich dust, and scores of young stars. This red layer represents infrared data collected by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
The third layer is a tilted square, or diamond-shaped image, with its points touching the edges of the big blue base layer. Here, curling, sweeping tendrils of warm hydrogen gas swirl around the frame in shades of green. This layer represents data captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
In the center of the combined image, the three translucent layers overlap, resulting in a technicolor marvel; an image of intermingled blue, red, and green clouds that blend to include lively shades of fiery orange, golden yellow, and deep purple.


Fast Facts for Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus)
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Ohio State Univ./J. Rodriguez et al; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds
Release Date: August 11, 2026
Scale: Image is about 10 arcmin (470 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000): RA 5h 38m 38s | Dec -69° 05´ 42"
Constellation: Dorado
Observation Dates: 54 observations from January 2006 to January 2016
Observation Time: 571 hours (23 days 19 hours 56 minutes)
Obs. ID: 05906, 07263, 07264, 16192-16203, 16442-16449, 16612, 16615-16617, 16621, 16640, 17312-17414, 17486, 17544, 17545, 17555, 17561, 17562, 17602, 17603, 17640-17642, 17660, 18670-18672, 18706, 18720, 18721, 18722, 18729, 18749, 18750
Instrument: ACIS
Also Known As: 30 Doradus
References: Rodriguez, J.A., et al, 2026, ApJ, 998, 318.
Color Code: X-ray: blue; Infrared: red; Optical (H-alpha): green
Distance Estimate: About 160,000 light-years from Earth

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, August 03, 2026

Chandra Sees Black Hole Stirring "Pot" Containing Galactic Potato

Red Potato Galaxy (MQN01 J004131.9-493704)
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. Milano-Bicocca/W. Wang et al.; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI;
Radio: ESO/NRAO/NAOJ/ALMA; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk & P. Edmonds

JPEG (128.9 kb) - Large JPEG (939.4 kb) - Tiff (77.2 MB) - More Images

A Tour of the Red Potato Galaxy - More Videos


  • A jet from a black hole in the early universe is churning the gas around a neighboring galaxy, tamping down star formation.

  • NASA’s Chandra provided evidence that this jet is striking the gas cloud pumping particles and energy into it.

  • This galaxy was nicknamed the "red potato" galaxy because of its appearance in images from NASA’s James Webb.

  • This result informs how and when stars & galaxies formed in the early universe — and the effects black holes may have on them.


A black hole may be stirring a "pot" of gas containing a neighboring galaxy in the early universe, according to a new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, as described in our latest press release. This galaxy, officially named MQN01 J004131.9-493704, has been nicknamed the "red potato" by astronomers because of its appearance in images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

The red potato galaxy is located about 11.7 billion light-years from Earth at an intersection where gigantic web-like structures of galaxies and gas meet. Astronomers targeted this area with Webb because they knew it contains one of the heaviest concentrations of galaxies and growing supermassive black holes yet identified in the early universe.

A composite image shows this galaxy in X-rays from Chandra (blue) and radio light data from ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (red). The X-rays reveal a growing supermassive black hole and the jet it has produced, while the radio light shows relatively cool gas in the region. Infrared data from Webb (red, green, and blue) completes the view.

Astronomers expected that the red potato galaxy, which is surrounded by the ingredients to form new stars in the form of the cool gas, would be producing many young stars. However, the amount of star formation was relatively low, which led the researchers to look for a reason why.

One important clue is that the cloud of gas surrounding the red potato galaxy is unusually turbulent compared to large gas clouds surrounding other galaxies. Such turbulence could be preventing most of the gas from falling onto the red potato galaxy to form large numbers of new stars.

Using Chandra, the team discovered that a jet of particles from a growing black hole in a neighboring galaxy is pointed toward and may be striking the gas cloud around the red potato galaxy, possibly causing the turbulence.

The Red Potato galaxy, MQN01 J004131.9-493704, and the surrounding region in X-ray, infrared, and radio light. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. Milano-Bicocca/W. Wang et al.; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Radio: ESO/NRAO/NAOJ/ALMA; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk & P. Edmonds
A labeled version of the image highlights the red potato galaxy, the neighboring galaxy hosting the growing supermassive black hole, the jet from this black hole and the cloud of cool gas the jet may be striking. Apart from the jet, the blue Chandra emission from the neighboring galaxy is a point source of X-rays, rather than including diffuse X-rays. The large, diffuse appearance of the X-ray source is caused by the difference in resolving power of JWST and Chandra, and the processing required to show the faint jet.

While the red potato galaxy mostly has older, cooler stars and therefore appears red in infrared data, the galaxy hosting the black hole with the jet does not. Instead, this galaxy, which is located about 200,000 light-years from the red potato, is very actively forming stars, including massive, hot stars, as are most of the other nearby galaxies.

Astronomers want to learn how galaxies and black holes interact with each other – especially at this critical epoch in the universe’s history – and how that impacts when and how stars form.

A paper describing these results, led by Weichen Wang of the University of Milan-Bicocca in Italy, has been recently published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.




Visual Description:
This release includes a composite image featuring two galaxies in the early universe, some 11.7 billion light-years from Earth.

Near the center of the image is a small, irregular, pale yellow oval with a red outer ring, in the heart of a bright, hazy red cloud. This is a galaxy nicknamed the “red potato” by astronomers studying this region of the early universe. Those astronomers expected the red potato to be producing scores of new stars. When they instead discovered relatively low star growth, they looked to a neighboring galaxy for reasons why.

To our upper right of the red potato and its hazy red cloud of gas, is a neighboring galaxy in a pool of blue haze. This galaxy is also pale yellow in color, but has a less defined, less tuber-like shape than its counterpart. The blue pool represents X-rays from a growing supermassive black hole in the heart of the galaxy. The pool has a stubby tail, or X-ray jet, pointed toward the red cloud, and faint pockets of red and blue overlap within the composite image.

Astronomers now believe that the X-ray jet from the neighboring supermassive black hole may have struck the red gas cloud around the red potato. This may be causing turbulence within the gas cloud, preventing the gas from falling onto the red potato. Without the ingredients from that gas, new stars struggle to grow.


Fast Facts for Red Potato Galaxy (MQN01 J004131.9-493704):
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. Milano-Bicocca/W. Wang et al.; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Radio: ESO/NRAO/NAOJ/ALMA; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk & P. Edmonds
Release Date: July 21, 2026
Scale: Image is about 20 arcsec (500,000 light-years) across.
Category: Groups & Clusters of Galaxies, Quasars & Active Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA 00h 41m 31.9s | Dec -49° 37´ 3.7"
Constellation: Phoenix
Observation Dates: 22 observations from July 2022 to Sept. 2023
Observation Time: 176 hours (7 days 8 hours)
Obs. ID: 25375, 25711-25730, 27667
Instrument: ACIS
References: Wang W., et al., 2026, A&A, In press. DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202659351
Color Code: X-ray: blue; Infrared: red, green, and blue; Radio: red
Distance Estimate: About 11.7 billion light-years from Earth (z=3.25)

Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

The Cosmic Wake of the Lighthouse Pulsar

Lighthouse Pulsar (PSR J1101-6101)
Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./J. Dinsmore et al.; IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J. Dinsmore et al., Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA; Optical: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare



Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) directly measured the magnetic fields of PSR J1101−6101, a pulsar located within what is often referred to as the “Lighthouse” Nebula, for the first time.

A pulsar is a type of neutron star — the dense core leftover when a massive star collapses — with a strong magnetic field that spins incredibly fast. The pulsar at the center of the Lighthouse nebula is rotating at 16 times per second.

Astronomers studied two narrow offshoots extending from the Lighthouse pulsar to better understand how electrons at nearly the speed of light interact with the surrounding environment. When high-energy particles from the pulsar collide with the gas of interstellar space, they form a bow shock similar to the bow wave formed at the front of a speeding boat. Most particles become trapped behind this bow shock, forming the turbulent tail behind the pulsar. Previously, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured this tail that extends for over 37 light-years, the longest jet from an object seen in the Milky Way at the time.

This graphic contains data from different telescopes that shows the region around the Lighthouse pulsar and its wake. In this composite image, X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are purple, X-rays from NASA's IXPE are in blue, with radio emission captured by the Australia Compact Telescope Array in green. Optical light data from the 2MASS telescope shows the stars visible in this field of view.

A paper about the results recently published in the Astrophysical Journal. The IXPE mission, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. It is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.



Visual Description:
This composite multiwavelength image captures the turbulent environment surrounding the Lighthouse pulsar, set against a vast, black background speckled with twinkling white and faint green stars. In the upper-left quadrant, a massive, cloud-like nebula glows in a textured, vibrant purple hue, anchored by a prominent four-pointed star shining brightly near its center. Moving toward the lower-right quadrant, the pulsar itself is located at the lower tip of a concentrated, brilliant whitish-blue elongated point of light. Extending outward from its core is a long, narrow, and slightly curved jet of purple and blue emission that streaks upward and to the right. This jet represents a massive 37-light-year tail of high-energy particles trailing behind the rapidly spinning star as it plow through interstellar space. This composite image contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple, additional X-ray from NASA's IXPE in blue, and radio data from CSIRO in green. The starfield is optical data from the 2MASS survey.


Fast Facts for Lighthouse Pulsar (PSR J1101-6101)
Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./J. Dinsmore et al.; IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J. Dinsmore et al., Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA; Optical: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Release Date: July 9, 2026
Scale: Image is about 22 arcmin (130 light-years) across.
Category: Neutron Stars/X-ray Binaries
Coordinates (J2000): RA 11h 01m 44.9s | Dec -61° 01´ 39.6"
Constellation: Carina
Observation Dates: 14 observations from Sept 2011 to Oct 2024
Observation Time: 126 hours 51 minutes (5 days 6 hours 51 minutes)
Obs. ID: 12420, 13787, 16007, 16517, 16518, 17421, 17422, 28352, 28519, 28520, 30570-30573
Instrument: ACIS
References: Dinsmore, J. et al., 2026, accepted. DOI:10.48550/arXiv.2604.22914
Color Code: X-ray: Chandra: magenta; IXPE: blue; Radio: green; Optical: red, green, blue
Distance Estimate: About 21,000 light-years from Earth

Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

Friday, July 10, 2026

NASA's Chandra Releases 'Red, White, and Blue' Universe for US 250th

Cassiopeia A - NGC 3603 - NGC 4736 (M94) - ZwCl 0024+1652
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO



In celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States, NASA has unveiled four cosmic images from its Chandra X-ray Observatory rendered in red, white, and blue that represent the wonders of the universe the agency explores. The images are accompanied by a trio of new sonifications — a technique that translates astronomical data into sounds.

The image set begins with Cassiopeia A in the top panel, where X-rays from Chandra (represented in blue and purple) have been combined with an infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (red and white). Chandra’s X-ray vision reveals the blast wave that tore through the star, as well as elements in the debris field like iron, calcium, and oxygen. Webb’s infrared data also shows the expanding shell of material from the explosion and cosmic dust throughout the remnant.

In the bottom row, the first image on the left is the nebula NGC 3603, which contains a massive cluster of stars and is located in the Milky Way galaxy. This new composite image contains Chandra’s X-ray data (red and white) and shows diffuse emission near the galaxy’s center along with point-like X-ray sources throughout the middle of the image. Optical, infrared, and ultraviolet light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (red-orange, green, blue, and yellow) reveal stars in the center of the image and dust and gas toward the bottom. The combined layering of the colors makes this nebula and the stars forming within it appear primarily red, white, and blue, with X-rays showing the sparkling lights of young stars.

The middle panel of the bottom row is a new look at the galaxy NGC 4736, also known as Messier 94. In this image, X-rays of different wavelengths from Chandra (red, orange, and blue) are layered with a visible light image from astrophotographers using their telescopes on the ground (red, green, and blue). Messier 94 is a spiral galaxy with a bright inner ring around it, called a starburst ring, where new stars are forming, perhaps fueled by gas driven in the unique oval-shaped structure seen here.

The final image in this red, white, and blue quartet features ZwCl 0024+1652. This is a distant galaxy cluster in which astronomers have found evidence for dark matter by using specially processed data from Hubble (blue). Another image from Hubble reveals the individual galaxies in the cluster (appearing as yellow and white). X-ray data from Chandra shows the enormous reservoir of superheated gas that pervades this galaxy cluster (red) with much more mass than all the galaxies taken together.

New sonifications of the three images along the bottom row of this mosaic are also available, allowing listeners to experience data through sound.

The translation of NGC 3603 into sound begins with a left to right scan, where the brightnesses of the sources once again dictate volume. Chandra’s observations of compact sources sprinkled throughout the galaxy are heard as piano notes, while the diffuse X-ray emission is mapped to a range of audio frequencies. The Hubble optical data is played as sustained tones and acoustic guitar harmonics.


In the sonification of NGC 4736, the radar-like scan moves clockwise, and the brightness of the sources dictates the volume of the sounds. X-rays from Chandra have been turned into wind-like sounds that follow the shape of the X-ray emission. Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes (known as “compact sources”) detected by Chandra are mapped to pitched tones on a glass marimba. Optical data from ground-based observations is mapped to musically pitched tones, creating a low drone, while stars and background galaxies are heard as a soft piano.


For ZwCl 0024+1652, the sonification begins as a circle on the outside of the image and moves inward. The volume is linked to the brightness of the data, reaching one peak as the circle passes over the dark matter detected by inference from Hubble optical observations and another as it reaches the core. The background stars are heard as a swelling glockenspiel-like sound, and the galaxies are played on a piano. Chandra’s X-rays, which dominate the center of the galaxy cluster and reveal superheated gas, are represented by airy synthesizer notes.


The sonification program is led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) and included as part of NASA's Universe of Learning program. The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand (CXC), Matt Russo, astrophysicist; and Andrew Santaguida, musician, SYSTEM Sounds project; along with Christine Malec, consultant. Previously released sonifications of data from from Cassiopeia A can be found at chandra.si.edu/sound.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.



Visual Description:

In celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States, this release includes a series of images featuring four wonders of the universe, rendered in red, white, and blue. The images contain X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, optical and infrared data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as ground-based telescopes.

The main image set features composite images of the four individual objects; Cassiopeia A, NGC 3603, M94/NGC 4736, and ZwCl 0024+1652.

Cassiopeia A occupies the top panel of the frame, significantly larger than the other images in the set. The cloudy blast-wave of the supernova remnant is ring-like in shape, streaked with veins of iron, calcium, and oxygen. Here, presented in red, white, and blue, the remnant resembles an electrified donut, crackling with marbled veins of strawberry and blueberry icing.

At our lower left of the image set is the nebula NCG 3603, which contains a massive cluster of stars on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy. Here, a tight cluster of neon red and white stars packs the center of the image, dissipating as it reaches the outer edges of the panel. Sweeping in at the lower corners of the image are hazy blue clouds resembling sheets of gauze.

Centered at the bottom of the image set is the galaxy NGC 4736, also known as Messier 94 (M94). Here, the spiral galaxy is seen face on, with concentric pale violet cloud rings flecked with scores of stars in white, pale blue, soft red, and golden yellow. The inner ring of the galaxy is bright, and rosy yellow in color. This is a starburst ring, where new stars are forming.

At our bottom right of the image set is the distant galaxy cluster ZwCl 0024+1652. The image is packed with streaks and specks in golden yellow and brilliant white. Upon close inspection, each streak and speck is revealed to be an individual galaxy, some with discernible spiral shapes. At the center of the image is a round pool of bright red light, surrounded by royal blue haze. The red light represents X-ray observations by Chandra, which reveal an enormous reservoir of superheated gas pervading the cluster. The blue haze represents specially-processed data from Hubble, suggesting evidence of dark matter.

This release also includes new sonifications of the three images presented in the bottom row of this data set, allowing listeners to experience the data through sound.


Fast Facts for Cassiopeia A:

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand
Release Date: June 30, 2026
Scale: Image is about 8 arcmin (25.5 light-years) across.
Category:  Supernovas & Supernova Remnants
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 23h 23m 26.7s | Dec: +58° 49' 03.00"
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Observation Date(s): Nine observations in 2004: Feb 8, Apr 14, 18, 20, 22, 25 28, May 1, 5
Observation Time: 277 hours and 58 minutes (11 days 13 hours 58 minutes)
Obs. IDs: 4634-4639, 5196, 5319-5320
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: blue and red; Infrared: red and white
Distance Estimate: About 11,000 light-years from Earth


Fast Facts for NGC 3603:

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical/IR/UV (Hubble): NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/AURA; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand
Release Date: June 30, 2026
Scale: Image is about 3 arcmin (17 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Stars & Star Clusters
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 11h 15m 9.09s | Dec: -61° 16' 17.0"
Constellation: Carina
Observation Date(s): Five observations from May 2000 to October 2011
Observation Time: 138 hours 8 minutes (5 days 18 hours 8 minutes)
Obs. IDs: 633, 12328-12330, 13162
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: red and white ; Infrared: red and yellow; Ultraviolet: green, blue, and white
Distance Estimate: About 20,000 light-years from Earth


Fast Facts for NGC 4736 (M94):

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical:Brian Brennan and Remi Lacasse; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand
Release Date: June 30, 2026
Scale: Image is about 17 arcmin (94,000 light-years) across.
Category: Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 12h 50m 53.1s | Dec: +41° 07' 13.7"
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Observation Date(s): May 13, 2000
Observation Time: 13 hours 50 minutes
Obs. IDs: 808
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: red, green, and blue; Optical: red, green, and blue
Distance Estimate: About 19 million light-years from Earth


Fast Facts for ZwCl 0024+1652:

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical and Dark Matter: NASA/ESA/M.J. Jee; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Release Date: June 30, 2026
Scale: Image is about 3.3 arcmin (9,100 light-years) across.
Category: Groups & Clusters of Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000): RA: 00h 26m 34.5s | Dec: +17° 09′ 44.0"
Constellation: Pisces
Observation Date(s): 3 Observations from Sep, 2000 to Aug, 2016
Observation Time: 29 hours 30 minutes (1 day 5 hours 30 minutes)
Obs. IDs: 929, 7717, 18458
Instrument: ACIS
Color Code: X-ray: red; Optical: red, green, and blue; Dark Matter: blue
Distance Estimate: About 9.5 million light-years from Earth

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)