On 25th anniversary of Chandra telescope, NASA released 25 photos previously unseen by the public

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Chandra X-ray Observatory's time in space, NASA has released 25 previously unseen images captured by the telescope. However, budget cuts might soon force NASA to cease the observatory's operations.

Launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, the Chandra telescope has since delivered numerous stunning images, including the most distant black hole ever observed. The observatory has enabled discoveries that scientists couldn't have imagined before its launch.

The 25 images released for the anniversary are just a small fraction of the material gathered from 25,000 observation sessions Chandra has conducted while in space.

Astronomers continue to use data from the telescope alongside images from other powerful observatories, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).

Despite Chandra's successes, NASA's budget cuts threaten the future of the space observatory. American officials face tough budget decisions and have to make difficult choices to secure funding for the development of new telescopes, explained NASA's Astrophysics Division director Mark Clampin.

Researchers can't imagine Chandra being decommissioned any time soon. However, even if it does happen, the observatory has already earned the title of one of NASA's most productive missions: over 25 years, research involving Chandra has formed the basis of more than 700 doctoral dissertations and over 10,000 peer-reviewed articles.