Nasa’s Chandra x-ray observatory was launched on July 23, 1999, and with a length of 45 feet is the largest satellite ever launched. The observatory was first proposed to NASA in 1976, funding began in 1977, and after more than 20 years it was finally launched into space. It was previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), but after a contest in 1998 it was renamed to Chandra after Nobel-prize winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. “Chandra's main
ASTRONOMY “A New Black Hole” “Scientific American Evidence that the heavens house a previously unknown type of black hole was reported by scientists yesterday. Data from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory revealed a hole was some 600 light-years from the center of the starburst galaxy M82. The brightness of the x-ray source indicates that this moon-size hole has the mass of at least 500 suns, making it intermediate between stellar black holes and the supermassive black holes found at the centers
machines gave people the ability to grind glass lenses, and mirrors to different shapes. James Gregory, a Scottish astronomer, created the parabolic mirror, a mirror that curved differently than a spherical mirror. With this type of mirror the light rays bounce off the mirror and meet in the same place, resulting in a clear image. Thus making reflectors the first type of telescope to have clear images. Astronomers started building larger reflecting telescopes, to accommodate a larger primary mirror
fundamental physics and cosmology.Examples include the new elementary particles discovered in cosmic rays in the ‘30s and ‘40s, flavor oscillations from the solar and atmospheric neutrinos, or the revolutions brought by radio or X-ray astronomy. The last decade, a new branch of astronomy was born: high energy and very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. Especially, 2OO4 was a very importand year for the gamma-rays astronomy. Firstly it was the year that marked the 30th aniversary of the discovery of the compact
universe. NASA has greatly contributed to our knowledge of the universe. Multiple missions have been conducted to take a strong grip of our galaxy. Many observatories have been on the case ever since, the entire budget that NASA has inherited has been worthwhile. Many observatories belonging to NASA, such as, the Chandra X-ray Observatory with an x-ray telescope is capable of retrieving incredible data on the observed galaxies; it is considered as one of the most powerful, vigilant telescopes that were
the closest giant elliptical and radio galaxy to the Milky Way. Centaurus A is an active galaxy and is forming young blue stars within the dust band near the nucleus. After much observation it was finally concluded by an x-ray image that was captured by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, that the nucleus of Centaurus A is actually a supermassive black hole. This observation took a while to come into fruition because the galaxy is so heavily covered by the thick dust. The supermassive black hole is measured
Supernovae Supernovae are stars that explode. All supernovae can happen one of two was. One happens in the Binary star system, and the other happens at the end of a stars life time. Most supernovae can outshine entire galaxies, and put off more energy than our sun can produce in its entire life time. With some of the supernovae scientist can use them to help understand the expansion of the universe. Not every supernova can be used to study the expansion of the universe. Supernovas can tell us things
The American physicists R. Oppenheimer and H. Snyder, in 1939, realized that Schwarzchild theory was only possible if the star was much bigger than our sun; approximately 3.9 times or larger. In the early seventies, a x-ray source was located in the Constellation Cygnus. The x-ray source couldn't actually be precisely located but was narrowed down to a relatively small area. At this time it was very puzzling for the scientist. Steven Hawking, in the seventies, came up with theoretical arguments
Dark Matter For centuries, physicists and philosophers alike have wondered what makes up our universe. Aristotle thought that all matter came in one of four forms: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Since then we have come a long way, with the discovery of the atoms and the subatomic particles they are made of. We can even guess at what makes up protons and neutrons. We have since then discovered and predicted the existence of particles other than the atom, such as the photon, neutrino, axion, and many
The Andromeda is part of the Local Group of galaxies. The Andromeda galaxy is the closest full size galaxy to the Milky Way. The Andromeda Galaxy is about four times bigger than the moon in the sky. Andromeda contains around one trillion stars. The Andromeda Galaxy is also the only galaxy noticeable to the naked eye in the Northern Hemisphere. The Andromeda Galaxy is the Milky Way's larget galactic acquaintance and is on course for a collision in the fututre. It is believe that the Milky Way Galaxy
We have done a lot of research about space and have learned a lot with the technology we have. One of the main mysteries that we have not understood much is “the hole”. When I say “the hole” I mean the three main ones the black hole, white hole, and the wormhole. Each one is important in their own way, but this paper will be focused on black holes. I will briefly touch on theories that involve time travel, white holes, and wormholes. The scientist who came up with the name was John A Wheeler. John
Space exploration has changed and developed since the first man was sent into space. Advanced rockets, new computer technology, and remote controlled robots are only a few of the things that made space travel possible. Even though this technology was efficient, it was not cheap. When a rocket was sent into space, only the capsule holding the astronauts returned to space. This expensive way of space travel was forever changed with the creation of the space shuttle. The Columbia space shuttle was important
As Space Exploration advanced so did the diversity of those who entered into it. Only a mere two years after the first man entered into space the first women did, Valentina Tereshkova. After her experience in space, many more women made their mark through the Space program. Each of these talented women strived for excellence in the field of Space Exploration and has provided great role models for people throughout the world. They have made an impact not only in equality among all genders but also