The Beautiful Universe: Chandra in HD

Latest Episodes:

Tour: Before Fall Leaves, See Seasonal Offerings from NASA's Chandra Nov 24, 2025

Show notes

Before fall gives way to winter in the northern hemisphere, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has several images that celebrate autumn and its many delights to share.

Tour: NASA's Chandra Finds Black Hole With Tremendous Growth Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

A black hole is growing at one of the fastest rates ever recorded. This discovery from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory may help explain how some black holes can reach enormous masses relatively quickly after the Big Bang.

Tour: NASA's Chandra Reveals Star's Inner Conflict Before Explosion Aug 28, 2025

Show notes

The star that exploded to become the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant appears to have undergone a dramatic event right before its demise. New evidence from Chandra indicates that the star's interior was violently rearranged just hours before the explosion.

Tour: X-ray, Radio Go 'Hand in Hand' in New NASA Image Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

In 2009, Chandra released a captivating image: a pulsar and its surrounding nebula that is shaped like a hand. Since then, astronomers have used Chandra and other telescopes to continue to observe this object.

Tour: NASA's Chandra Finds Baby Exoplanet is Shrinking Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

A baby planet is shrinking from the size of Jupiter with a thick atmosphere to a small, barren world, according to a new study from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Tour: NASA's Chandra Shares a New View of Our Galactic Neighbor Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

Astronomers study Andromeda to better understand the structure and evolution of our own spiral galaxy, the Milky Way.

Tour: NASA's Chandra Sees Surprisingly Strong Black Hole Jet at Cosmic "Noon" Jun 09, 2025

Show notes

A black hole has blasted out a surprisingly powerful jet in the distant universe. This jet exists early enough in the cosmos that it is being illuminated by the leftover glow from the big bang itself.

Tour: Galaxy Clusters on Course to Crash Again, NASA's Chandra Finds Jun 04, 2025

Show notes

New observations have captured a powerful cosmic event: two galaxy clusters have collided and are now poised to head back for another swipe at each other.

Tour: Eccentric 'Star' Defies Easy Explanation, NASA's Chandra Finds May 28, 2025

Show notes

Scientists have discovered a star behaving like no other seen before, giving new clues about the origin of a class of mysterious objects.

Tour: NASA Telescopes Tune Into a Black Hole Prelude, Fugue May 09, 2025

Show notes

This new trio of sonifications represents different aspects of black holes.