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Chandra Observatory is the third of NASA's four "Great Observatories". The first was Hubble Space Telescope; second the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, launched in 1991; and last is the Spitzer Space TelescopeSpitzer Space Telescope Organization NASA, JPL/ Caltech Wavelength regime infrared Orbit8. 4 106mi) ( heliocentric, trailing Earth at L5) Launch date August 25 2003 Deorbit datecirca 2008 Mass950 kg (2094 lb) Other namesSpace Infrared Telescope Facility,. Prior to successful launch, the Chandra Observatory was known as AXAF, the Advanced X-ray Astronomical Facility.
Since the Earth's atmosphereEarth's atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It consists of nitrogen (78. 1% by volume) and oxygen (20. 9%), with small amounts of argon (0. 9%), carbon dioxide (variable, but around 0. 035%), absorbs the vast majority of X-rayIn the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. Rontgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz to 60 EHz). X-rays, they are not detectable from Earth-based telescopeNice Observatory. A telescope is perhaps the most important astronomical tool; such technology gathers (and focuses) electromagnetic radiation. Telescopes increase the apparent angular size of objects, as well as their apparent brightness. Galileo Galileis, requiring a space-based telescope to make these observations. Unlike optical telescopes which possess simple silvered parabolic surfaces (mirrors), X-ray telescopes generally have nested parabolically cylindrical surfaces coated with iridium. With an angular resolutionResolving power is the ability of a microscope or telescope to measure the angular separation of images that are close together. Angular resolution describes the resolving power of a telescope. Resolution is the minimum distance between distinguishable ob of 0.5 arcsecondA second of arc or arcsecond is a unit of angular measurement which comprises one-sixtieth of an arcminute, or 1/3600 of a degree of arc or 1/1296000 ≈ 7. 7E-7 of a circle. It is the angular diameter on object of 1 unit diameter at a distance of 360, Chandra possesses a resolution over one thousand times better than the resolution of the first orbiting X-ray telescope, which had less precise gold-coated mirrors. A diffractive grating provides excellent spectral resolution compared to older X-ray missions, about 1 in 1000. Chandra can also detect variations in X-ray emissions as short as 17 microseconds. The data gathered by Chandra have opened a new field in astronomy, shedding light not only upon our own Galaxy (the Milky Way), but many other galaxies and galaxy clusters.
Some objects observed with the Chandra Observatory include:
orbit: approximately 6,214 by 86,992 miles in altitude.