CXC Home | Search | Help | Image Use Policy | Latest Images | Privacy | Accessibility | Glossary | Q&A
Video Series: Visual Descriptions
Narrated audio files of the visual descriptions of recent Chandra images released.
1.- Guitar Nebula
Normally found only in heavy metal bands or certain post-apocalyptic films, a "flame-throwing guitar" has now been spotted moving through space.
Visual Description Text
More
2.- AT2019qiz
A massive black hole has torn apart one star and is now using that stellar wreckage to pummel another star or smaller black hole that used to be in the clear.
Visual Description Text
More
3.- Zwicky 8338
Astronomers using Chandra have found a galaxy cluster has two streams of superheated gas crossing one another. This result shows that crossing the streams may lead to the creation of new structure.
Visual Description Text
More
4.- Sonification Collection
Sonifications of three images have been released to mark the 25th anniversary of Chandra's "First Light" image.
Visual Description Text
More
5.- AT2018fyk
A team of researchers have made important headway in understanding how — and when — a supermassive black hole obtains and then consumes material.
Visual Description Text
More
6.- 25 Images for Chandra's 25th Anniversary
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its launch, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is releasing 25 never-before-seen views of a wide range of cosmic objects.
Visual Description Text
More
7.- Cosmic Road Trip
It's time to take a cosmic road trip using light as the highway and visit four stunning destinations across space.
Visual Description Text
More
8.- 3C 58
A new study using NASA's Chandra and ESA's XMM-Newton reveals that the interiors of neutron stars may contain a type of ultra-dense matter not found anywhere else in the Universe.
Visual Description Text
More
9.- Exoplanet Survey
This graphic shows a three-dimensional map of stars near the Sun that are close enough to Earth for planets in their habitable zones to be directly imaged using future telescopes.
Visual Description Text
More
10.- Supermassive Black Hole Survey
By combining forefront X-ray observations with state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations, researchers have provided the best modeling to date of the growth of the supermassive black holes found in the centers of galaxies.
Visual Description Text
More
11.- Westerlund 1
Westerlund 1 is the biggest and closest "super" star cluster to Earth. New data is helping astronomers delve deeper into this galactic factory where stars are vigorously being produced.
Visual Description Text
More
12.- Death Star Black Holes
Astronomers studied 16 supermassive black holes that are firing powerful beams, or jets, into space. They found that about a third of these have changed directions by large amounts.
Visual Description Text
More
13.- Galactic Center Vent
Eruptions from the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* may have created an exhaust vent attached to a "chimney" of hot gas blowing away from the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
Visual Description Text
More
14.- SNR 1181
In the year 1181 a rare supernova explosion appeared in the night sky, staying visible for 185 consecutive days. Now we can marvel at the same object that appeared in our ancestors' night sky more than 800 years ago.
Visual Description Text
More
15.- H1821+643
A brilliant supermassive black hole is not living up to expectations. Although it's responsible for high levels of radiation and powerful jets, this giant black hole is not as influential as many of its counterparts in other galaxies.
Visual Description Text
More
16.- Sonification Collection
Three new sonifications of images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have been released in conjunction with a new documentary about the project that makes its debut on the NASA+ streaming platform.
Visual Description Text
More
17.- Sagittarius A*
The supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way is spinning so quickly it is warping the spacetime surrounding it into a shape that looks like an American football.
Visual Description Text
More
18.- Brightest Cluster Galaxies Survey
These four images represent a sample of galaxy clusters that are part of the largest and most complete study to learn what triggers stars to form in the universe's biggest galaxies.
Visual Description Text
More
19.- Cassiopeia A
Astronomers have combined data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope to study the well-known supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.
Visual Description Text
More
20.- 30 Doradus B
A colorful, festive image shows different types of light containing the remains of not one, but at least two, exploded stars.
Visual Description Text
More
21.- NGC 2264
This new image of NGC 2264, also known as the "Christmas Tree Cluster," shows the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of stellar lights.
Visual Description Text
More
22.- Omega Centauri
A group of dead stars known as "spider pulsars" are obliterating companion stars within their reach.
Visual Description Text
More
23.- Galactic Center
A new collaboration is enabling actual data from NASA telescopes to be used as the basis for original music that humans can play.
Visual Description Text
More
24.- UHZ1
This image contains the most distant black hole ever detected in X-rays, a result that may explain how some of the first supermassive black holes in the universe formed.
Visual Description Text
More
25.- MSH 15-52
Chandra's data of MSH 15-52 have been combined with data from NASA's newest X-ray telescope, IXPE to unveil the magnetic field "bones" of this remarkable structure.
Visual Description Text
More
26.- SN 1006
Supernova 1006 was first seen in the sky on May 1, 1006 A.D. Today, scientists are learning even more about the spectacular stellar explosion documented in many parts of the world.
Visual Description Text
More
27.- Eta Carinae
A time-lapse sequence of Eta Carinae allows astronomers to watch as the stellar eruption continues to expand into space at speeds up to 4.5 million miles per hour.
Visual Description Text
More
28.- Chandra Archive Collection
A new collection of stunning images highlights data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes.
Visual Description Text
More
29.- ASASSN-14li
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra, ESA's XMM-Newton, and other telescopes have determined that a giant black hole has destroyed a large star and strewn its contents into space.
Visual Description Text
More
30.- El Gordo
New studies using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory & James Webb Space Telescope provide further insights into this hefty galaxy cluster.
Visual Description Text
More
31.- SPT-CL J2215-3537
Astronomers have discovered the most distant galaxy cluster with an important quality — paving the way to learning how and when some of these gigantic structures form and why the universe looks like it does in the present day.
Visual Description Text
More
32.- Sagittarius A*
New data from IXPE has provided evidence that our Milky Way's supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, had an outburst about 200 years ago after devouring gas and dust within its reach.
Visual Description Text
More
33.- Sonification Collection
Sonification is a process that translates data into sounds and notes that humans can hear. Each layer of sound in these three new NASA sonifications represents particular wavelengths of light detected by Chandra, Webb, Hubble, and Spitzer in various combinations.
Visual Description Text
More
34.- NGC 4839
The NGC 4839 group of galaxies is plunging into the Coma galaxy cluster and leaving behind a tail of superheated gas.
Visual Description Text
More
35.- Chandra and Webb
4 composite images deliver dazzling views from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope of two galaxies, a nebula, and a star cluster.
Visual Description Text
More
36.- M84
With a single letter seemingly etched in the X-ray glow around it, a giant black hole at the center of a massive elliptical galaxy is making a mark on its surroundings.
Visual Description Text
More
37.- Centaurus A
The galaxy Centaurus A shines bright in this image combining data from multiple observatories.
Visual Description Text
More
38.- Supernova Survey
Astronomers have identified a new threat to life on planets like Earth: a phase during which intense X-rays from exploded stars can affect planets over 100 light-years away.
Visual Description Text
More
39.- NGC 253
Data from Chandra show the effects of powerful winds launched from the center of a nearby galaxy.
Visual Description Text
More
40.- 3C 297
A distant and lonely galaxy appears to have pulled in and assimilated all of its former companion galaxies.
Visual Description Text
More
41.- Tycho's Supernova Remnant
This image provides a new look at the Tycho supernova remnant, named for Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe who noticed the bright glow of this new "star" in the constellation Cassiopeia more than 450 years ago.
Visual Description Text
More
42.- Black Hole Pairs
A new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has tracked two pairs of supermassive black holes in dwarf galaxies on collision courses.
Visual Description Text
More
43.- Abell 2256
Astronomers have captured a spectacular, ongoing collision between at least three galaxy clusters. Data from Chandra, XMM-Newton, and a trio of radio telescopes are helping astronomers sort out what is happening in this jumbled scene.
Visual Description Text
More
44.- XBONGS
A new survey using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has uncovered hundreds of previously "hidden" black holes.
Visual Description Text
More
45.- Tarantula Nebula
The "Tarantula Nebula" (officially known as 30 Doradus) is available in a composite image of Chandra and JWST data for the first time.
Visual Description Text
More
46.- NGC 3293
This stellar cluster is one of 10 different systems that astronomers studied with Chandra to determine how magnetically active their stars are.
Visual Description Text
More
47.- RCW 36
A study of RCW 36 shows that stars in a cluster can limit how many new stars form when the biggest and brightest members expel most of the gas from the system, thus drastically slowing down star birth.
Visual Description Text
More
48.- V404 Cygni
A new sonification turns light echoes from a black hole into sound.
Visual Description Text
More
49.- Hot Jupiters
A new study using Chandra examines whether "hot Jupiter" exoplanets can have an anti-aging effect on the stars they orbit.
Visual Description Text
More
50.- Cassiopeia A
Astronomers have made the first measurement in X-rays of the polarization from the remains of an exploded star called Cassiopeia A.
Visual Description Text
More
51.- Abell 98
Astronomers taking inventory of the material in the local universe keep coming up short. A new result from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory about a system of colliding galaxy clusters may help explain this shortfall.
Visual Description Text
More
52.- Chandra and Webb
Images combining Webb infrared data with X-rays collected by Chandra underscore how the power of any of these telescopes is only enhanced when joined with others.
Visual Description Text
More
53.- SNR 0519-69.0
It is often difficult to determine the timeline of a star's demise. By studying the spectacular remains of a supernova, a team has found enough clues to help wind back the clock.
Visual Description Text
More
54.- NGC 4424
Astronomers may have witnessed a smaller galaxy colliding with a larger spiral galaxy and delivering a supermassive black hole.
Visual Description Text
More
55.- G292.0+1.8
A young pulsar is blazing through the Milky Way at a speed of over a million miles per hour. This stellar speedster is one of the fastest objects of its kind ever seen.
Visual Description Text
More
56.- Abell 2146
A new study shows a deep connection between some of the largest, most energetic events in the Universe and much smaller, weaker ones powered by our own Sun.
Visual Description Text
More
57.- Sagittarius A*
As the Event Horizon Telescope was collecting data for its remarkable new image of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, a legion of other telescopes, including Chandra, was also watching.
Visual Description Text
More
58.- Sonification Collection
Two new sonifications of well-known black holes have been released for NASA's Black Hole Week.
Visual Description Text
More
59.- Black Hole Survey
A new survey of over 100 galaxies by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has uncovered signs that black holes are demolishing thousands of stars in a quest to pack on weight.
Visual Description Text
More
60.- Spiderweb Galaxy Field
Data from Chandra reveal feasting and growing black holes throughout the cosmic web that surrounds a central galaxy.
Visual Description Text
More
61.- PSR J2030+4415
A city-sized collapsed star has generated a beam of matter and antimatter that stretches for trillions of miles.
Visual Description Text
More
62.- GW170817
A neutron star merger that produced both gravitational waves and light.
Visual Description Text
More
63.- Chandra Archive Collection
A selection of multiwavelength images with Chandra data.
Visual Description Text
More
64.- Eta Carinae
A new astronomical visualization from NASA's Universe of Learning showcases the multiwavelength emissions and 3D structures surrounding Eta Carinae, one of the most massive and eruptive stars in our galaxy.
Visual Description Text
More
65.- Mrk 462
Chandra has detected X-rays from the dwarf galaxy Mrk 462, revealing the presence of a growing supermassive black hole.
Visual Description Text
More
66.- RBS 797
Scientists have found four enormous cavities, or bubbles, at the center of a galaxy cluster using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Visual Description Text
More
67.- Planetary Nebula Archive
A collection of six planetary nebulas ranging from about 2,200 to 5,700 light years from Earth.
Visual Description Text
More
68.- KPD 0005+5106
New data suggest a white dwarf is blasting a companion object, either a low-mass star or planet, with waves of heat and radiation while pulling it apart through gravitational force.
Visual Description Text
More
69.- Whirlpool Galaxy
Astronomers have found evidence for a possible planet candidate in the M51 ("Whirlpool") galaxy, representing what could be the first planet detected outside of the Milky Way.
Visual Description Text
More
70.- G344.7-0.1
Studies of the elements left behind by explosions like this are some of the best tools available to scientists to better understand the details of Type Ia supernovas.
Visual Description Text
More
71.- Sonification Collection
A "sonification" project led by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Universe of Learning transforms otherwise inaudible data from some of the world's most powerful telescopes into sound.
Visual Description Text
More
72.- MG B2016+112
By taking advantage of a natural lens in space, astronomers have captured an unprecedented look at X-rays from a black hole system in the early Universe.
Visual Description Text
More
73.- V404 Cygni
A spectacular set of rings around a black hole has been captured using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.
Visual Description Text
More
74.- Abell 1775
Galaxy clusters are the titans of the Universe. A new study using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory examines the repercussions after two galaxy clusters clashed.
Visual Description Text
More
75.- Northern Clump
Researchers have found a galaxy cluster acting like a passenger on what astronomers are calling an "intergalactic highway."
Visual Description Text
More
76.- MSH 15-52
Motions of a remarkable cosmic structure have been measured for the first time, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Visual Description Text
More
77.- Super Flares
The largest survey ever of star-forming regions in X-rays outlines the link between very powerful flares and the impact they could have on planets in orbit around them.
Visual Description Text
More
78.- Galactic Center
A new panorama from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope provides a stunning view of the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
Visual Description Text
More
79.- IC 443
Chandra's collection of 3D computer models and prints is now available on a new platform from the Smithsonian Institution. This will provide greater access to these resources for libraries, museums, scientists, and the public.
Visual Description Text
More
80.- Cassiopeia A
Astronomers have discovered an important type of titanium blasting out from the center of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, a result that could be a major advance in understanding how some massive stars explode.
Visual Description Text
More
81.- M87
In April 2019, scientists released the first image of a black hole in the galaxy M87 using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). However, that remarkable achievement was just the beginning of the science story to be told.
Visual Description Text
More
82.- Uranus
Astronomers have detected X-rays from Uranus for the first time, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Visual Description Text
More
83.- Sonification Collection
As part of our ongoing data sonification series, three new images have now been released.
Visual Description Text
More
84.- PJ352-15
Astronomers may have found the most distant supermassive black hole with a jet detected in X-rays using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Visual Description Text
More
85.- Supernova 1987A
Astronomers have found evidence for the existence of a neutron star at the center of Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A), which scientists have been seeking for over three decades.
Visual Description Text
More
86.- Sagittarius A East
Astronomers have found evidence for an unusual type of supernova near the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
Visual Description Text
More
87.- Triple Galaxy Mergers
When three galaxies collide, what happens to the central black holes growing at the cores of each?
Visual Description Text
More
88.- J1818.0-1607
In 2020, astronomers added a new member to an exclusive family of exotic objects with the discovery of a magnetar. New Chandra observations help support the idea that it is also a pulsar.
Visual Description Text
More