Hidden in a distant galaxy cluster collision, about 1.62 billion light-years from Earth, are wisps of gas that some people think resemble the Starship Enterprise. Others think the wisps look like time-traveling whales in space. Either way, Abell 1033 *engages* on #StarTrekDay !🖖

The Cartwheel Galaxy gets its unique shape from a collision with a smaller galaxy. When the smaller galaxy punched through the Cartwheel, it triggered star formation that appears around an outer ring and elsewhere in the galaxy. This view combines data from Chandra & NASA Webb Telescope.

So exciting! NASA Webb Telescope on Supernova 1987A — one of Chandra's favorite objects! 😍

Today Chandra is studying a supernova in Serpens. Nearby in the sky is CB 130-3, a dense cloud of gas & dust on the verge of becoming a full-blown star. As the cloud collapses, material will become so dense and hot that hydrogen fusion will get going — and a star is born!🌟

The galaxy cluster 'El Gordo' got its name because of its gigantic mass - 3 million billion times the mass of the Sun.

Using data from Chandra Observatory and NASA Webb Telescope, scientists determined that El Gordo is, in fact, the site of two galaxy clusters that ran into one another.

This is the center of our Milky Way galaxy in X-ray and radio light. Some of the exotic objects located here include clouds of gas in the millions of degrees, neutron stars ripping other stars apart, and Sagittarius A* — the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's core.

Congratulations ISRO on your successful  Chandrayaan-3 lunar South Pole landing! And congratulations to #India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon. We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!

Happy #CouplesDay ! If you like slow dances, then this one may be for you. NGC 5394 & NGC 5395 slowly whirl about each other in a gravitational twirl that sets off a flourish of sparks in the form of new stars. A single turn in their dance takes several hundred million years.

Today Chandra is studying a galaxy cluster in Lyra. Nearby in the sky is NGC 6745. Shaped like the head of a bird about to grab a tasty bite of food, the galaxy's spiral shape has been distorted by a collision with a smaller galaxy located almost out of view on the lower right.

How do astronomers study cosmic objects and events that are so far away? One tool is spectroscopy, which breaks down light to help us determine composition, motion, and more.

Watch this video to find out how a little bit of light can help us learn a whole lot about space.

Today Chandra is studying supernova remnant 3C58 in Cassiopeia. A pulsar at the center of the remnant is generating jets of X-rays that extend trillions of kilometers. These jets are responsible for creating the complex arrangement of loops & swirls revealed in the image.

If you've ever gazed into the eyes of cat, you know how fascinating those orbs can be. The Cat's Eye Nebula is no different. The kind of nebula produced by stars like our Sun — but later in life — often have curious qualities that leave us mesmerized. #InternationalCatDay 🐈