Galactic Gems Glisten in New Gallery From NASA's Chandra

chandra_901g August 25th, 2026

Credit: X-ray: (Chandra:) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE:) NASA/MSFC; Optical: ESO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, K. Arcand, and J. Major

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2026/galaxies/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details

Image Type: Observation
Object Name: Centaurus A

Distance

11,000,000 light years

Position Details

Position (ICRS): RA = 13h 25m 27.6s; DEC = -43° 1’ 8.8”
Constellation: Centaurus

Color Mapping

Telescope	Spectral Band	Wavelength
Chandra (ACIS)	X-ray	-
Other:IXPE	X-ray	-
ESO	Optical	-
Webb	Infrared	-

ID: 901g
Subject Category
Subject Name: Centaurus A
Credits: X-ray: (Chandra:) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE:) NASA/MSFC; Optical: ESO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, K. Arcand, and J. Major

Release Date: 2026-08-25
Lightyears: 11,000,000
Redshift: 11,000,000
Reference Url: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2026/galaxies/

Type: Observation
Image Quality: Good
Distance Notes

Facility: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Other:IXPE, ESO, James Webb Space Telescope
Instrument: ACIS, -, -, -
Color Assignment: Blue, Red, Yellow, Purple

Band: X-ray, X-ray, Optical, Infrared
Bandpass
Central Wavelength

Start Time: 1999-12-05-21:36, -, -, -
Integration Time: 827860, -, -, -
Dataset ID: 316, 962, 2978, 3965, 7797, 7798, 7799, 7800, 8489, 8490, 10722, 10723, 10724, 10725, 10726, 11846, 11847, 12155, 12156, 13303, 13304
Notes

Coordinate Frame: ICRS
Equinox: J2000
Reference Value: 201.36508333333333, -43.01911111111111
Reference Dimension: 4096, 4096

Reference Pixel: 2048.5, 2048.5
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:: TAN

Quality: Full
FITS Header
Notes

Creator (Curator): Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL: http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Email: cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu

Telephone: 617.496.7941
Address: 60 Garden St.
City: Cambridge
State/Province: MA

Postal Code: 02138
Country: USA
Rights: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Publisher: Chandra X-ray Center
Publisher ID: chandra
Resource ID

Resource URL: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2026/galaxies/galaxies.tif
Related Resources

Metadata Date: 2026-08-26
Metadata Version: 1.2

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

11,000,000 light years