Images from the first five years of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory will be presented at Grand Valley State University on Wednesday, March 9, by Donna Young, from the Wright Center for Science Education at Tufts University.
Chandra is the most sophisticated X-ray satellite ever launched by NASA. It was designed to observe remnants of supernovae explosions, colliding galaxies, black holes, pulsars, quasars, and more. The collected data is changing and reshaping our theories about the evolution of stars and galaxies and will rewrite textbooks for decades to come.
The technology onboard the Chandra allows scientists to view, study, and examine the invisible X-ray universe from a 64-hour orbit that reaches one third the distance to the moon with the most precise mirrors in the world. This unprecedented accomplishment allows Chandra to image sound waves produced by a black hole, watch doom matter falling into a black hole get a new lease on life, and discover connections between supernovae and gamma-ray bursts.
Young is the curriculum developer for Chandra at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, curriculum consultant and principal author of a new astronomy curriculum called "Hands On Astrophysics," and national event coordinator for the "Reach for the Stars" event for the National Science Olympiad.
Her lecture "Chandra's High Energy Vision" will run from 7-8:30 p.m. at 102 Loutit Lecture Hall in the Padnos Hall of Science on Grand Valley's Allendale campus. The event is free and open to students, teachers, and the community.
For more information contact Grand Valley's Regional Math & Science Center at (616)331-2267.
