Stephen Murray (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

The Chandra X-ray Observatory: What is that? Recent results, especially clusters of galaxies. - Stephen Murray Colloquium

ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

Since its launch on July 23, 1999 the Chandra X-ray Observatory joined the Hubble Space Telescope as one of NASA's series of Great Observatories, soon to be joined by the Spitzer Space Telescope. These three space observatories span the spectrum from the IR to X-rays with unprecedented sensitivity. In this talk I will describe the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its performance. I will highlight the use of Chandra to study clusters of galaxies, the largest bound systems in the Universe. The high angular resolution of Chandra has allowed us to study the detailed structure of the X-ray emitting gas that dominates these clusters. A variety of interesting phenomena are seen including cold fronts, shock fronts, and cavities all of which are related to physical processes such as mergers and AGN activity.