NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory completes 10th anniversary

Washington, July 26 (ANI): NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has completed its 10th anniversary, ushering in an unprecedented decade of discovery for the high-energy universe.

Chandra was launched ten years ago, on July 23, 1999, aboard the space shuttle Columbia and deployed into orbit.

With its unrivaled ability to create high-resolution X- ray images, Chandra has enabled astronomers to investigate phenomena as diverse as comets, black holes, dark matter and dark energy.

"Chandra's discoveries are truly astonishing and have made dramatic changes to our understanding of the universe and its constituents," said Martin Weisskopf, Chandra project scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The science that has been generated by Chandra - both on its own and in conjunction with other telescopes in space and on the ground - has had a widespread, transformative impact on 21st century astrophysics.

Chandra has provided the strongest evidence yet that dark matter must exist.

It has independently confirmed the existence of dark energy and made spectacular images of titanic explosions produced by matter swirling toward supermassive black holes.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Chandra, three new versions of classic Chandra images will be released during the next three months.

These images provide new data and a more complete view of objects that Chandra observed in earlier stages of its mission.

The next image will be released in August to highlight the anniversary of when Chandra opened up for the first time and gathered light on its detectors.

The third image will be released during "Chandra's First Decade of Discovery" symposium in Boston, which begins September 22.

"I am extremely proud of the tremendous team of people who worked so hard to make Chandra a success," said Harvey Tananbaum, director of the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"It has taken partners at NASA, industry and academia to make Chandra the crown jewel of high-energy astrophysics," he added. (ANI)