Chandra Space Telescope

Since the earth s atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of x rays they are not detectable from earth based telescopes.
Chandra space telescope. Because x rays are absorbed by earth s atmosphere chandra must orbit above it up to an altitude of 139 000 km 86 500 mi in space. Get the latest updates on nasa missions watch nasa tv live and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. Hubble space telescope james webb space telescope galaxies nebulae astrophysics black holes cosmology. The chandra x ray observatory previously known as the advanced x ray astrophysics facility is a flagship class space telescope launched aboard the space shuttle columbia during sts 93 by nasa on july 23 1999.
Chandra shows the x rays surrounding the white dwarf star white and you can view data in optical wavelengths from hubble orange and blue ultraviolet from nasa s galaxy evolution explorer. Nasa gov brings you the latest images videos and news from america s space agency. The chandra x ray observatory is a nasa telescope that looks at black holes quasars supernovas and the like all sources of high energy in the universe. Chandra is positioned 200 times higher than the hubble space telescope in an elliptical or oval shaped orbit.
Chandra is sensitive to x ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous x ray telescope enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors. The great observatories were designed to send back detailed information about space. Artist illustration of the chandra x ray observatory. It has been able to detect x ray sources 20 times fainter than anything previously picked up by an x ray telescope and can be used to study objects that emit x rays such as black holes supernovae and dark matter.
Nasa s chandra x ray observatory is a telescope specially designed to detect x ray emission from very hot regions of the universe such as exploded stars clusters of galaxies and matter around black holes.