Andrew Yee
August 24th 05, 01:49 PM
Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
August 23, 2005
News release: 05-143
Six Years Into Its Mission, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory Continues to
Achieve Scientific Firsts
In August 1999, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory opened for business. Six
years later, it continues to achieve scientific firsts.
"When Chandra opened its sunshade doors for the first time, it opened the
possibility of studying the X-ray emission of the universe with
unprecedented clarity," said Chandra project scientist Dr. Martin
Weisskopf of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
"Already surpassing its goal of a five-year life, Chandra continues to
rewrite textbooks with discoveries about our own solar system and images
of celestial objects as far as billions of light years away."
Based on the observatory's outstanding results, NASA Headquarters in
Washington decided in 2001 to extend Chandra's mission from five years to
ten. During the observatory's sixth year of operation, auroras from
Jupiter, X-rays from Saturn, and the early days of our solar system were
the focus of Chandra discoveries close to home -- discoveries with the
potential to better understand the dynamics of life on Earth.
Jupiter's auroras are the most spectacular and active auroras in the solar
system. Extended Chandra observations revealed that Jupiter's auroral
X-rays are caused by highly charged particles crashing into the atmosphere
above Jupiter's poles. These results gave scientists information needed to
compare Jupiter's auroras with those from Earth, and determine if they are
triggered by different cosmic and planetary events.
Mysterious X-rays from Saturn also received attention, as Chandra
completed the first observation of a solar X-ray flare reflected from
Saturn's low-latitudes, the region that correlates to Earth's equator and
tropics. This observation led scientists to conclude the ringed planet may
act as a mirror, reflecting explosive activity from the sun. Solar-storm
watchers on Earth might see a surprising benefit. The results imply
scientists could use giant planets like Saturn as remote-sensing tools to
help monitor X-ray flaring on portions of the sun facing away from Earth's
space satellites.
Another Chandra discovery -- gleaned from the deepest X-ray observation of
any star cluster -- offered insights on Earth's survival in its infancy.
Chandra's focus was the Orion Nebula, which contains at least 1,400 young
stars, 30 that are prototypes of the early sun. Using Chandra, scientists
learned these young stars produce violent X-ray flares much more
frequently and energetically than anything seen today from our 4.6
billion-year-old sun. This implies super-flares torched our young solar
system and likely affected the planet-forming disk around the early sun --
enhancing the survival chances of Earth.
"Space is a harsh environment with extreme temperatures, harmful radiation
and none of the protection offered by Earth's atmosphere," said Chandra
Program Manager Keith Hefner of the Marshall Center. "Ironically, the fact
that our atmosphere absorbs harmful X-rays is the very reason for
Chandra's existence. Getting outside the absorbing atmosphere of the Earth
requires space-based observatories, and viewing the universe in multiple
wavelengths is necessary to fully study cosmic events. Chandra's continued
outstanding performance after six years of operation under such harsh
conditions is evidence that it is, indeed, an engineering marvel."
In its sixth year, Chandra also continued to build on its growing list of
discoveries involving black holes. This included finding the most powerful
eruption seen in the universe, generated by a supermassive black hole
growing at a remarkable rate. The eruption -- which has lasted for 100
million years and is still going -- has generated the energy equivalent to
hundreds of millions of gamma-ray bursts. This discovery illustrated the
enormous appetite of large black holes, and the profound impact they have
on their surroundings.
Other recent discoveries include confirming the existence of weight limits
for supermassive black holes, finding evidence for a swarm of black holes
near the galactic center and gathering more data supporting the existence
of mid-sized black holes.
Marshall manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate in Washington. Northrop Grumman of Redondo Beach, Calif., was
the prime development contractor for the observatory. The Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory controls science and flight operations from the
Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass.
Additional information and images are available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2005/05-143.html
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
August 23, 2005
News release: 05-143
Six Years Into Its Mission, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory Continues to
Achieve Scientific Firsts
In August 1999, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory opened for business. Six
years later, it continues to achieve scientific firsts.
"When Chandra opened its sunshade doors for the first time, it opened the
possibility of studying the X-ray emission of the universe with
unprecedented clarity," said Chandra project scientist Dr. Martin
Weisskopf of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
"Already surpassing its goal of a five-year life, Chandra continues to
rewrite textbooks with discoveries about our own solar system and images
of celestial objects as far as billions of light years away."
Based on the observatory's outstanding results, NASA Headquarters in
Washington decided in 2001 to extend Chandra's mission from five years to
ten. During the observatory's sixth year of operation, auroras from
Jupiter, X-rays from Saturn, and the early days of our solar system were
the focus of Chandra discoveries close to home -- discoveries with the
potential to better understand the dynamics of life on Earth.
Jupiter's auroras are the most spectacular and active auroras in the solar
system. Extended Chandra observations revealed that Jupiter's auroral
X-rays are caused by highly charged particles crashing into the atmosphere
above Jupiter's poles. These results gave scientists information needed to
compare Jupiter's auroras with those from Earth, and determine if they are
triggered by different cosmic and planetary events.
Mysterious X-rays from Saturn also received attention, as Chandra
completed the first observation of a solar X-ray flare reflected from
Saturn's low-latitudes, the region that correlates to Earth's equator and
tropics. This observation led scientists to conclude the ringed planet may
act as a mirror, reflecting explosive activity from the sun. Solar-storm
watchers on Earth might see a surprising benefit. The results imply
scientists could use giant planets like Saturn as remote-sensing tools to
help monitor X-ray flaring on portions of the sun facing away from Earth's
space satellites.
Another Chandra discovery -- gleaned from the deepest X-ray observation of
any star cluster -- offered insights on Earth's survival in its infancy.
Chandra's focus was the Orion Nebula, which contains at least 1,400 young
stars, 30 that are prototypes of the early sun. Using Chandra, scientists
learned these young stars produce violent X-ray flares much more
frequently and energetically than anything seen today from our 4.6
billion-year-old sun. This implies super-flares torched our young solar
system and likely affected the planet-forming disk around the early sun --
enhancing the survival chances of Earth.
"Space is a harsh environment with extreme temperatures, harmful radiation
and none of the protection offered by Earth's atmosphere," said Chandra
Program Manager Keith Hefner of the Marshall Center. "Ironically, the fact
that our atmosphere absorbs harmful X-rays is the very reason for
Chandra's existence. Getting outside the absorbing atmosphere of the Earth
requires space-based observatories, and viewing the universe in multiple
wavelengths is necessary to fully study cosmic events. Chandra's continued
outstanding performance after six years of operation under such harsh
conditions is evidence that it is, indeed, an engineering marvel."
In its sixth year, Chandra also continued to build on its growing list of
discoveries involving black holes. This included finding the most powerful
eruption seen in the universe, generated by a supermassive black hole
growing at a remarkable rate. The eruption -- which has lasted for 100
million years and is still going -- has generated the energy equivalent to
hundreds of millions of gamma-ray bursts. This discovery illustrated the
enormous appetite of large black holes, and the profound impact they have
on their surroundings.
Other recent discoveries include confirming the existence of weight limits
for supermassive black holes, finding evidence for a swarm of black holes
near the galactic center and gathering more data supporting the existence
of mid-sized black holes.
Marshall manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate in Washington. Northrop Grumman of Redondo Beach, Calif., was
the prime development contractor for the observatory. The Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory controls science and flight operations from the
Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass.
Additional information and images are available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2005/05-143.html