General

A symphonic event at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on November 16th 2024 provided a remarkable opportunity to celebrate 25 years with the Chandra X-ray Observatory on the Mall in Washington, D.C. The free program, entitled "Above and Beyond," was built around Chandra’s milestone anniversary and featured the premiere of "Where Parallel Lines Converge." This original piece by composer Sophie Kastner, created with Chandra and alongside CXC experts, was inspired by the Chandra sonifications of the Galactic Center region. The ensemble musicians were from the 21st Century Consort and their performance was outstanding. In addition to the music, there was a selection of space imagery/video that helped showcase Chandra science. Dr. Kimberly Arcand of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) was on hand for a special conductor’s discussion and question-and-answer session before the performance along with other invited guests, and there was a brief reception afterwards.

The Chandra team has been working behind the scenes with the Smithsonian Institution's Digitization 3D Program, to create a new scrolling interactive for Cassiopeia A.

The term "scrollytelling" is real, even if you might not find it in every dictionary. (Though if you look in online ones – especially any that include online terminology – you will.) You may have experienced scrollytelling yourself if you’ve read or explored longer pieces of content on certain platforms or news outlets.

The idea is simple: as you scroll down the page, new information in the form of text, images, and videos will appear. It’s an effective way to convey layers of information, and we’re excited to share this new resource that will let you explore Cassiopeia A in a new way! Cas A, as it’s known, is arguably Chandra's most famous data of a supernova remnant, the leftover material from a star that exploded 340 years ago. Chandra has observed Cas A many times over its 25-year mission, and we have discovered lots about this exploded star -- including how it looks in three dimensions.

It’s been over a quarter of a century since the Space Shuttle Columbia deployed NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory into space during mission STS-93. Chandra’s highly elliptical orbit takes it over one-third of the distance to the Moon at its farthest point.

Although Chandra's closest approach to Earth fluctuates extensively with long-term variations in the orbit, it is still typically well more than 600 miles (1000 kilometers) above the surface. Compare that to the International Space Station which orbits our planet at an altitude of about 250 miles, and the Hubble Space Telescope which sits about 320 miles above Earth. It’s clear that Chandra is rather far away from us.

Twenty-five years ago, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched into space carrying the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Press releases from the Chandra X-ray Center, CfA, and Smithsonian shared 25 new images with Chandra data to publicize this momentous milestone. A dedicated webpage to Chandra’s 25th birthday, plus the new images and press release, can be found at https://chandra.si.edu/25th/

NGC 3324
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; IR (Spitzer): NASA/JPL-Caltech; IR (Webb): NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI)

If you happen to be riding the Metro subway system in Washington, DC over the next few months, take a moment to check out the video displays. On six stations, images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory will be featured as a cosmic distraction while you wait for the next train.

The guest blogger for this post is our own Dr. Kimberly Arcand, Visualization Lead and Emerging Technology Scientist for the Chandra X-ray Center. Kim has been working with Chandra since before the telescope’s launch and has been at the forefront of bringing Chandra data to the public in innovative ways. Some of her recent collaborations include the Chandra sonification project. In addition to being a NASA project, Chandra is also part of the Smithsonian Institution (the telescope is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.) That connection led to a new collaboration, described below, between Kim and Mickey Hart, the Grateful Dead, and Dead and Company, drummer and artist.

Westerlund 2
Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO & NASA/STScI

There is an inherent connection between music and space. There’s no rift between science and art, just a riff. They are two sides of the same coin, more alike than different.

On Saturday, June 22, Chandra’s 25th anniversary shone as part of the Smithsonian’s Cosmic Journey initiative, with events across SI's Solstice Saturday. During Solstice Saturday, SI museums on the Mall stay open late and host special programs and performances.

The event drew record-breaking audiences with many tens of thousands of people over the course of the day, braving the DC heat to enjoy a day and evening of astronomy. 
Chandra content was featured at multiple museums including Air & Space, Natural History, Arts & Industries, African American History & Culture, and Hirshhorn, for example. The installations included Chandra sonifications and large scaled image projects, trivia, handouts, 3D prints, and a documentary world premiere of "Listen to the Universe" from Chandra and NASA+.