During the last week Chandra completed the observing schedule as planned.

A real-time procedure was executed on Sep 26 to collect high-rate telemetry for two key thermistors on the ACIS instrument. This was part of activities to develop an on-board safing monitor which will stop science loads and put the science instruments in a safe configuration in the event that ACIS temperatures exceed safety limits.

A Chandra press release was issued on Sep 25 announcing that NASA has awarded a contract extension to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to continue operations and science support for the agency's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The contract extends the agreement between NASA and SAO through Sept. 30, 2024, followed by two three-year options that would extend the contract through Sept. 30, 2030. For details see: http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/18_releases/press_092518contract.html

A Chandra image release was issued on Sep 27 describing observations of Abell 2142, which is a galaxy cluster that is 6 million light years across and contains hundreds of galaxies. The Chandra data show that there is a galaxy group that is diving into Abell 2142, leaving a long tail of million-degree gas trailing behind. This merger event gives insight into the environment and conditions under which the largest structures in the universe evolve. For details see: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2018/a2142/

The schedule of targets for the next week is shown below.