General

Aesthetics & Astronomy

Here at the Chandra X-ray Center, we work hard to make the images that you find on the public website. No, there’s no magic button that we push to make pretty pictures. In fact, there are countless keystrokes, mouse movements, and lots of thinking that go into these images of the cosmos that are fit for public consumption.

Chandra joins the Flickr Commons project with the Smithsonian

Not to give away my age, but I remember not too long ago using film when I took pictures. And then having (gasp!) to get them developed. It was a sad, sad world, but somehow we emerged into our current age of electronic enlightenment.

One of the greatest advantages of digital visualization, in my opinion, is the ability to share, comment on, and arrange images in a myriad of ways. And, of course, Flickr has been highly successful at taking these concepts to a new level.

Cast Your Vote!

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In case you haven't heard, there's an election going on. No, not that election. This one goes beyond national politics and covers the entire Galaxy and beyond.

A Long Look Back at History

Fifty years ago this week, on October 1st, the legislation creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, was enacted. There will likely be a lot of buzz about this anniversary, and rightly so, since it has, among many other things, shaped our understanding of the Universe so dramatically.

Chandra's Got A New Look

The Chandra X-ray Observatory Center web site chandra.harvard.edu has been in existence for over ten years. In that time the Chandra Education & Public Outreach team has worked to improve content delivery, utilize new technologies and attempt to provide a fun, educational experience. Last week, the web group released a major revision that kept the overall basic design, navigation and search principles intact while allowing greater user control in content delivery. The new graphical design builds on existing elements but lends a more modern look.

How Far Away Are They?

Marusa Bradac: I do astronomy because it fascinates me. And it is the simplest things about it that amaze me most. I still remember times when I was a little girl watching stars with my dad in my home country Slovenia and wondering, "how far away are they?" I also remember how exciting it was when I first saw the Andromeda galaxy in our backyard. These days I moved on to much bigger things called clusters of galaxies. But the excitement of the question of how far away they really are is still there.

50 Years of NASA

Last week marked the 50th anniversary of President Dwight Eisenhower signing the National Aeronautics Space Act. This little wiggle of the pen created the agency we all know today as NASA.

I Love the '90s -- at least 1999

Nine years ago this week, Chandra was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia (sadly lost in the tragedy of 2003). While the satellite has performed excellently since it was deployed on July 23, 1999, there was a little drama in getting it going. You can read about some of the angst-inducing moments in the days leading up to launch in our Chandra Chronicles from that time.

Chandra spacecraft

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