The telescope's sunshade door was opened nearly two weeks ago. A week later, some of the first X-rays to travel down Chandra's concentric mirror barrel showed Cassiopeia A, bringing cheers from Chandra's flight operations team. Astronomers believe the remnant was produced by the explosion of a massive star weighing 10 to 30 times the mass of our sun. Material blasted into space from the explosion crashed into surrounding material at 10 million mph. Heavy elements in the hot gas produce X-rays of specific energies.
Chandra instruments can precisely measure the X-rays to tell how much of each element is present.
With this information, astronomers hope to learn how the elements necessary for life are created and spread throughout the galaxy by exploding stars. Ironically, astronomers chose to focus on the quasar because they were looking for a single point on which to focus and calibrate Chandra. Instead, they found the enormous jet blasting from the quasar. Our Milky Way galaxy could fit in the bright center of the jet, Tananbaum said. The quasar radiates with the power of 10 trillion suns, energy which scientists believe comes from a supermassive black hole at its center.