Nasa's stunning images to celebrate Chandra's 25th anniversary

To mark the 25th anniversary of Nasa’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Nasa released 25 breathtaking images of cosmic objects. These images, captured using data from Chandra, showcase how X-ray technology explores interstellar space and captures the beauty of the universe.

(Photo: Nasa)

The Crab Nebula, born from a supernova recorded by Earth-bound observers in 1054 AD, is filled with intricate and enigmatic filaments. These filaments are not only remarkably complex but also possess less mass than what was expelled in the original supernova, and they move at a faster speed than expected from a typical explosion.

(Photo : Nasa)

Messier 64, also known as the Black Eye Galaxy, is easily recognized by the striking band of dust partially obscuring its bright nucleus. This galaxy is notable for its unusual internal motion, where the gas in the outer regions rotates in the opposite direction to the gas and stars in the inner regions.

(Photo: Nasa)

Known as the cosmic fire of creation by the Maya of Mesoamerica, M42 shines brightly in the constellation Orion. Commonly referred to as the Orion Nebula, this stellar nursery has been recognized by various cultures throughout history.

(Photo: Nasa)

Captured by Nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope, this image shows the Cat’s Paw Nebula, named for its large, round features that resemble a feline footprint. This nebula is a star-forming region within the Milky Way galaxy, situated in the constellation Scorpius.

(Photo: Nasa)

A team of researchers, led by Robin Barnard of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, identified 26 new black hole candidates using 152 observations from Nasa's Chandra X-ray Observatory collected over 13 years.

(Photo: Nasa)

The discovery of these aligned objects, enabled by the Webb Telescope’s exceptional spatial resolution and sensitivity in near-infrared wavelengths, is offering new insights into the fundamental processes of star formation.

(Photo: Nasa)

The galaxy has a bright center and is classified as "intermediate" because it exhibits features of both unbarred and barred spiral galaxies. Located just north of the celestial equator, it is visible from both the northern and most of the southern hemispheres.

(Photo: Nasa)

The new set of images represents a fraction of the nearly 25,000 observations collected by Chandra over its 25 years in space. In 1976, Riccardo Giacconi and Harvey Tananbaum proposed the mission to Nasa, which eventually led to Chandra being chosen as one of Nasa’s “Great Observatories.

(Photo: Nasa)

(Photo: Nasa)