Calendar of Events

Events Calendar

Astrophysics Seminar - Chandra's Remarkable 20 Year View of the Energetic Universe

Date and Time: Wednesday, November 06, 2019, 10:30am - 11:30pm
Location: 330w
 

Chandra's Remarkable 20 Year View of the Energetic Universe

Jeremy J. Drake

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Abstract:

This year NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is celebrating 20 years of operation. Its uniquely sharp X-ray vision has resulted in major advances in our understanding of the energetic Universe. Chandra has seen the X-ray glow of planets and comets in our solar system, unveiled the youngest stars buried in the gas and dust of star-forming regions, observed the distant explosions of massive stars as they ran out of fuel, explored the evolution of the supernova remnants that mark stellar death in the nearby universe, dissected the complex structure of the hot gas that dominates the baryonic matter in clusters of galaxies, explored the properties of dark matter, and witnessed the tremendous dissipation of gravitational energy as matter is captured by black holes of all masses. I will briefly review the origins of X-ray astronomy and some of Chandra's scientific discoveries. These span a remarkable range, from the nature of our Universe to the question of whether we are alone in the Universe.

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