The fourth planet from the Sun.
by Smithsonian Institution

Description: Chandra's image of Mars gave scientists their first look at X-rays from the red planet. In its sparse upper atmosphere, about 120 (75 miles) kilometers above the surface, X-rays are produced by fluorescent radiation from oxygen atoms excited by X-radiation from the Sun. The X-ray power detected from the Martian atmosphere is very small, amounting to only 4 megawatts, comparable to the X-ray power of about ten thousand medical X-ray machines. Creator/Photographer: Chan . . .

Sombrero Galaxy: A Great Observatories View (A spiral galaxy, also known as M104, in the Virgo cluster about 28 million light years away.)
by Smithsonian Institution

Description: This Great Observatories view of the famous Sombrero galaxy was made using Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer. The main figure shows the combined image from the three telescopes, while the inset images show the separate observatory views. Chandra's X-ray image (in blue) shows hot gas in the galaxy and point sources that are a mixture of objects within the galaxy and quasars in the background. Hubble's optical image (green) reveals the bulge of starlight partially blocked by a rim o . . .

A supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy 160,000 light years from Earth.
by Smithsonian Institution

Description: Chandra's image of SNR 0540-69.3 reveals two aspects of the enormous power released when a massive star explodes. An implosion crushed material into an extremely dense (10 miles in diameter) neutron star, triggering an explosion that sent a shock wave rumbling through space at speeds in excess of 5 million miles per hour. The central intense white blaze of high-energy particles about 3 light years across was created by a rapidly rotating neutron star, or pulsar. Surrounding t . . .