Chandra ObservatoryVerifizierter Account

Only 4,000 light years away, #stars are forming in the molecular cloud known as RCW 108. Radiation from nearby stars will someday destroy the cloud and trigger a new generation of stars to form, continuing the cycle of stellar life & death in the Universe! http://s.si.edu/2uMqsWd pic.twitter.com/JsK9lNgX7H

Supernova explosions forge heavy elements, providing raw material from which future generations of stars & #planets can form! Puppis A, the remains of a supernova explosion, is about 7,000 light years away & roughly 100 light years wide! http://bit.ly/PuppisA  #ScienceFridaypic.twitter.com/YyIbtWGzmu

A planetary nebula results when a star like our Sun becomes a red giant and sheds its outer layers. Informally known as the #Saturn Nebula because of its shape, planetary nebula NGC 7009 is roughly 2 light years wide and is located about 5,000 light years from Earth in #Aquarius.pic.twitter.com/aLcqR6Y5fu

Right #now Chandra is gazing at a group of galaxies in the Boötes constellation! Nearby in the sky is spiral galaxy NGC 5714. About 130 million light years from Earth in #space, scientists spotted a faint supernova explosion in this galaxy in 2003! #Today's Obs: 5h 33mpic.twitter.com/YngMSRvGUJ

Right #now Chandra is studying a nova in #Sagittarius! Nearby in the sky is the graceful Swan Nebula. About 5,500 light years from Earth, the Swan is a glowing lake of hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur gas. It's one of the brightest star-forming regions in our galaxy!pic.twitter.com/nVzx7gX4S3

It's no #summer picnic in the Ant Nebula! Formally called Mz 3, this exuber-ant planetary nebula is expanding at 180,000 kilometers per hour! Over 4,000 light years from Earth, this colony of one is about 2 light years across! http://s.si.edu/2rYI4N3  Happy #LaborDay weekend!pic.twitter.com/JzLqWyfZqM

Have you ever wondered where our little blue-green planet resides? #Earth is located in the Milky Way's Orion Arm, about 25,000 light years from the center of our galaxy and roughly halfway to the #GalaxysEdge!pic.twitter.com/9b8iSUEN07

#Today, Chandra is studying supernova remnant N132D! This remnant contains substantial amounts of #oxygen, particularly in the green regions near the center of the image. Most of the oxygen that we breathe on #Earth is thought to have come from explosions similar to this one!pic.twitter.com/SBJbRCBu4U

A #star is born in #space when a cloud of gas & dust collapses to the point where the material in the center of the clump is so dense that nuclear fusion can occur. Our #Sun is the nearest star to Earth, seen here in X-ray and extreme ultraviolet light!pic.twitter.com/8pSEHg7CGH

#News: 20 years ago #today, Chandra's "First Light" image of Cassiopeia A was released. Since then, Chandra has repeatedly returned to the supernova remnant to help us learn more about this fascinating object! Watch the transformation: https://s.si.edu/firstlight20  #Chandra20pic.twitter.com/6IDNyeR4Im

Produced by the explosion of a massive #star in our Milky Way galaxy, supernova remnant G266.2-1.2 is located about 2,400 light years from Earth. Over 30 light years across, material from the explosion continues to expand into interstellar #space!pic.twitter.com/qvRNbexZOb

The explosion of a massive star that produced supernova remnant N49 also left behind a neutron star that spins around once every 8 seconds! The star is categorized as a magnetar due to its extremely powerful magnetic field — roughly a quadrillion times more powerful than Earth's!pic.twitter.com/ypQCLJDQiC

An event horizon is the boundary between what can & cannot escape a #BlackHole. This year @ehtelescope, a planet-wide array of #radio telescopes, presented the world with the first image of a black hole's event horizon! Happy #NationalRadioDay! https://s.si.edu/BlackHoleM87 pic.twitter.com/9wGLjZ2Bk8

Star cluster NGC 2024 is located in the center of the Flame Nebula, a mere 1,400 light years from Earth. Seen here in X-ray and infrared light, the cluster is made up of hundreds of young and newly-forming stars! Out of this #WorldPhotographyDay! http://s.si.edu/2uJ44Iu pic.twitter.com/pUQJmloiUQ