In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Chandra X-ray telescope in space, NASA has released 25 images taken by the instrument that have not previously been seen by the public. It is possible that due to NASA budget cuts, the work of the observatory will have to be curtailed soon.
Image source: nasa.gov
The Chandra Telescope was launched aboard the space shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, and has since returned many stunning images, including the most distant black hole ever observed. The observatory helped make some discoveries that scientists did not even suspect before its launch. The 25 images published in honor of the anniversary are just a small part of the material obtained from the 25,000 observation sessions that Chandra conducted during its stay in space. Astronomers continue to use the telescope’s data in conjunction with images from other powerful observatories, including the James Webb Space Station (JWST) and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).
But NASA’s budget cuts threaten the future of the space observatory, despite all its successes. U.S. officials are grappling with tough budget decisions and tough choices to find funds to develop new telescopes, said Mark Clampin, head of NASA’s astrophysics division. Researchers do not even think that Chandra could be taken out of service in the near future. But even if this happens, the observatory has already earned the title of one of NASA’s most productive missions: over 25 years, research conducted with Chandra’s participation has formed the basis of more than 700 doctoral dissertations and more than 10,000 peer-reviewed articles.