Chandra Observatory

In celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States, @NASA has unveiled four cosmic images from its Chandra X-ray Observatory rendered in red, white, and blue that represent the wonders of the universe the agency explores. 🎆More: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/250…

It takes telescope teamwork to get the full picture of ZwCl 0024+1652! This galaxy cluster is located about 9.5 million light-years away. The glowing blue and red light here shows data from Hubble and @ChandraXRay ⬇️

A new result using NASA’s @chandraxray shows that the outer spiral arms in the Milky Way galaxy may reach wider than previously thought. This finding may lead astronomers to adjust their understanding of our home galaxy’s structure. READ MORE: go.nasa.gov/3QYH9ZS

Baby, you're a firework 🎆 This image combines data from Hubble and @ChandraXRay to show a spectacular star cluster surrounded by a vast region of dust and gas. Called NGC 3603, this star factory shines 20,000 light-years away: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/250…

Visual Description: By studying rings of X-ray light echoes, researchers now believe that two of the Milky Way's spiral arms may be more distant from the center of the galaxy than previously thought. The updated understanding of the structure of the Milky Way is highlighted in this short video, which compares two artist concept images. In both images, our spiral Milky Way galaxy is shown face-on. It has a bright white core with several arms that spiral out from the center, like long thin clouds corkscrewing counterclockwise. The two longest arms make a full rotation of the spiral galaxy, and curve all the way around to the upper right of the images. The first image in the video shows the previous understanding of the Milky Way. Here, the two longest arms are curled around the core in a fairly tight spiral. In the second image, which represents the updated understanding, the two longest arms are more loosely spiraled. Visually, this means there is more open space between the curving arms, which are further away from the bright galaxy core. The video fades back and forth between the two artist concept images to illustrate the structural differences between the two understandings.

The outer spiral arms of our Milky Way galaxy may reach wider than previously thought, according to data from @NASA's Chandra & ESA's XMM-Newton. This finding could lead us to adjust our understanding of our home galaxy's structure. 🌀More: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/arm…

Visual Description: This image features four images, showing four wonders of the universe, rendered in red, white, and blue and presented in a grid layout. The images contain X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, optical and infrared data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as ground-based telescopes. The top left image is Cassiopeia A. The top right image is NGC 3603. The bottom left image is ZwCl 0024+1652. The bottom right image is NGC 4736, also known as M94. Cassiopeia A: The cloudy blast-wave of the supernova remnant is ring-like in shape, streaked with veins of iron, calcium, and oxygen. Here, presented in red, white, and blue, the remnant resembles an electrified donut, crackling with marbled veins of strawberry and blueberry icing. NCG 3603: This nebula contains a massive cluster of stars on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy. Here, a tight cluster of neon red and white stars packs the center of the image, dissipating as it reaches the outer edges of the panel. Sweeping in at the lower corners of the image are hazy blue clouds resembling sheets of gauze. ZwCl 0024+1652: The image of this distant galaxy cluster is packed with streaks and specks in golden yellow and brilliant white. Upon close inspection, each streak and speck is revealed to be an individual galaxy, some with discernible spiral shapes. At the center of the image is a round pool of bright red light, surrounded by royal blue haze. The red light represents X-ray observations by Chandra, which reveal an enormous reservoir of superheated gas pervading the cluster. The blue haze represents specially-processed data from Hubble, suggesting evidence of dark matter. NGC 4736: This spiral galaxy is seen face on, with concentric pale violet cloud rings flecked with scores of stars in white, pale blue, soft red, and golden yellow. The inner ring of the galaxy is bright, and rosy yellow in color. This is a starburst ring, where new stars are forming.

In celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States, @NASA has unveiled four cosmic images from its Chandra X-ray Observatory rendered in red, white, and blue that represent the wonders of the universe the agency explores. 🎆More: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/250…

🌟Find out more about the discovery, including videos & images, at: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/m83/

@NASA 🌟For more information, including images and videos, visit: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/m83/

Sparkly, swirly, and surprising 🌌 @ChandraXray data shows that this galaxy, Messier 83, is unusual. Over 20 of its supernova remnants – remains from star explosions – vary drastically in X-ray brightness. Typically, the remnants' brightness would fade slowly over time.

@sof_skye90 @NASA This image is about 145 light-years across. Sagittarius A*, nestled inside this region, has a diameter of roughly 24 million kilometers or 15 million miles.

@NASA @chandraxray is this near sagittarius a*? curious if the debris field survived that close to the event horizon

Super! 💫 Data from @chandraxray has uncovered possible remains of a supernova in the middle of our Milky Way galaxy. If confirmed, this supernova piece would be one of the closest to our galaxy’s central black hole that we have ever found. go.nasa.gov/4aT7pvb

@ridge898 @NASA The remnant is in the region near the black hole, but well outside the event horizon.

Visual Description: A video showing a composite image of the nearby galaxy Messier 83 on the left, and short timelapse videos of two curious supernova remnants hidden inside on the right. In the composite image, Messier 83, or M83, is shown to have a spiral structure, viewed straight on. At the center is a brilliant white and yellow pool of light. From that light, spiral arms of hot pink cloud corkscrew out in wide, sweeping arches. The galaxy is covered in a faint grey haze, and flecked with red, green, blue, white, and yellow dots. Two tiny dots to our lower right of center are highlighted by white circles. These are two of the supernova remnants being considered by researchers. Each is examined further in a separate timelapse video. Over a 14-year period from 2000 to 2014, astronomers pointed NASA’s X-ray observatory at the M83 galaxy. They discovered that about half of the X-ray sources believed to be supernova remnants, the aftermath of stellar explosions, were exhibiting dramatic changes in brightness. This result was entirely unexpected. Those changes in brightness are highlighted in the timelapse videos. In each video, a series of static images flashes by, focused on one of the two X-ray sources once believed to be supernova remnants. In the videos, the X-ray sources appear as bright blue blobs with glowing cores. But in each image, taken months or years apart, the shapes change, as does the intensity of the blue color, and the brightness of the core. By presenting the substantively different images of the same objects one after another in quick succession, short timelapse videos are created. The most likely explanation for the changes in brightness is that the team has uncovered a population of stellar survivors, stars that lived through an orbiting partner’s destruction in a supernova explosion. Material is being pulled from the surviving star onto the black hole or neutron star that formed in the supernova, a process known to cause rapid changes in X-ray brightness.

When astronomers pointed NASA's Chandra at nearby galaxy M83, the last thing they expected to find was a population of supernova remnants appearing to dramatically change in brightness. More on the discovery: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/m83/ #AAS248

Astronomers may have found a new supernova remnant near the center of the Milky Way galaxy using data from @chandraxray. If confirmed, this would be one of the closest supernova remnants to the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center! 🔗go.nasa.gov/4vQqHcX

Astronomers may have found one of the closest supernova remnants to the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It's expanding at about 3.2 million kilometers per hour (2 million mph) and is at least 1,700 years old. 💥More: s.si.edu/sgrc26

The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is blowing a hot cosmic wind — something scientists have been hunting for over 50 years. ⚫More on the discovery at: chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/sgr…

Some of our galaxy’s youngest, hottest, and most massive stars blaze to life in the nearby Carina Nebula. Winds from these powerful stars can carve out bubbles of hot gas, producing dramatic shapes in the surrounding clouds of colder gas and dust.✨

The “most relaxed galaxy cluster in the universe” wasn't always so calm 🌀 New observations from @chandraxray show that Abell 2029 is still settling down after a collision with another smaller cluster about four billion years ago. More: go.nasa.gov/4egC1bd

Westerlund 2 is a young cluster of thousands of stars located about 20,000 light-years from Earth. This close-up image, roughly 12 light-years across, combines observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory & @NASAWebb.✨