Galactic Gems Glisten in New Gallery From NASA's Chandra

chandra_901m August 25th, 2026

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

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: M82

Distance

12,000,000 light years

Position Details

Position (ICRS): RA = 9h 55m 50.7s; DEC = 69° 40’ 37.0”
Constellation: Ursa Major

Color Mapping

Telescope	Spectral Band	Wavelength
Chandra (ACIS)	X-ray	-
Hubble	Optical	-
Webb	Infrared	-

ID: 901m
Subject Category
Subject Name: M82
Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, J. Major, and K. Arcand

Release Date: 2026-08-25
Lightyears: 12,000,000
Redshift: 12,000,000
Reference Url: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2026/galaxies/

Type: Observation
Image Quality: Good
Distance Notes

Facility: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope
Instrument: ACIS, -, -
Color Assignment: Blue, Pseudocolor, Pseudocolor

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

Start Time: 1999-09-20-1121, -, -
Integration Time: 827345, -, -
Dataset ID: 361, 378, 379, 380, 1302, 2933, 5644, 6097, 6361, 8190, 10025, 10026, 10027, 10542, 10543, 10544, 10545, 10925, 11104, 11800, 13796, 15616
Notes

Coordinate Frame: ICRS
Equinox: J2000
Reference Value: 148.96125, 69.67694444444444
Reference Dimension

Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:

Quality: Position
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: galaxies_m82.tif

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

Metadata Date: 2026-08-27
Metadata Version: 1.2

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

12,000,000 light years