Chandra Release - July 23, 2019

Visual Description: 20th Anniversary

These six images present a striking visual montage of cosmic phenomena captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (and, in some cases, composited with data from other telescopes). The upper-left shows the galaxy cluster Abell 2146, with diffuse, elongated X-ray gas colored in purples wedged between clusters, revealing shock fronts and hot plasma in collision. Adjacent, the Galactic Center region around Sagittarius A* displays a dense tangle of X-ray emissions, glowing in reds, greens and purples, set against background stars and interstellar gas. Next, the 30 Doradus (Tarantula Nebula) region appears in swirling clouds of brownish red, blue-green, and purple, spotlighting hot gas blown out by massive star winds and supernovae. In the lower row, the Cygnus OB2 star-forming region is shown with a patchwork of X-ray point sources and diffuse gas, interwoven with optical and infrared filaments in red, gold and cyan. Beside that, NGC 604 in the galaxy M33 displays a mix of blue X-ray bubbles and lavender filaments from hot gas mingling with stellar nurseries. Finally, the supernova remnant G292.0+1.8 is rendered as a chaotic shell of colored X-ray filaments (reds, blues, violets), tracing the expanding shock front and ejecta from the exploded star. Together, these images celebrate the diversity of high-energy phenomena that Chandra has revealed over decades of observation.