The Chandra X-Ray Observatory's first image, of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, was released by NASA August 26. According to NASA, the image reveals a fast outer shock wave and slower inner shock wave. The inner wave is believed to result from material ejected from the supernova explosion colliding with the matter around it, heating it to a temperature of 10 million degrees. The outer wave may be related to a sonic boom resulting from this collision. The bright object near the center may be the long sought neutron star or black hole remnant of the explosion that produced Cassiopeia A.

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