In our minds, outer space often seems still, with pretty pictures of galaxies and cloudy shapes that look like frozen clouds. But the truth is, space is always moving, even though it’s hard to see because it’s so big.
NASA’s Chandra Space Telescope has been taking pictures of space for a long time, making cool videos that show how everything in the universe dances around. Recently, the Chandra team shared two of these videos, showing the exciting movements of the Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A (Cas A).
The Crab Nebula is about 6,500 light-years away and started from a huge explosion seen way back in 1054 A.D. Over 22 years, Chandra’s pictures have captured the spreading waves coming from a tiny, fast-spinning star hiding in the middle of the nebula. This star, called a pulsar because it spins fast, shoots out streams of matter from its sides.
Meanwhile, Cas A, another supernova remnant located around 11,000 light-years away, witnessed its explosion on Earth roughly 340 years ago. In the Chandra time-lapse, the outer region of Cas A expands, displaying the initial blast wave moving into space. Multiple shock waves ripple through the remnant, akin to sonic booms, as depicted in the video compiled from 19 years of Chandra observations.
NASA claims that the craft “has been degrading over its mission lifetime to the extent that several systems require active management…increasing management costs beyond what NASA can afford.” However, researchers contend that Chandra “has plenty of life left in it.”
“At its centre is a neutron star, a super-dense star produced by the supernova. As it rotates at about 30 times per second, its beam of radiation passes over the Earth every orbit, like a cosmic lighthouse,” explains NASA. Chandra has been closely monitoring them from 2000 to 2022. This ongoing study is set to continue later this year.
Despite its scientific significance, the future of the Chandra Observatory appears uncertain due to proposed budget cuts by NASA. These cuts threaten to curtail its operations, potentially leading to an early end to its mission. However, the proposed budget is subject to change, and the astronomical community’s outcry may influence decisions regarding Chandra’s fate.