Astrophysics Colloquium: The X-ray Sky in High Definition: The Continuing Astrophysics Legacy of the Chandra X-ray Observatory

Abstract: X-ray astronomy is a product of the space age. Possible only from viewing platforms above the atmosphere, the first celestial X-ray source other than the Sun was discovered just over sixty years ago. Following fresh on the heels of this discovery, with X-ray astronomy just barely in its infancy, an almost unimaginably bold proposal was put forth to build a visionary space-borne observatory based on X-ray optics whose resolution and sheer size represented leaps by orders of magnitude over any such mirrors ever built. Following a series of smaller, but ever-improving X-ray observatories, this vision was fully realized in July of 1999 with the launch and deployment of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Over a quarter century later, Chandra remains the world's premier X-ray astrophysics facility - the crucial high energy component ofNASA's fleet of flagship observatories. From resolving the hazy X-ray background into a speckled array dominated primarily by black holes to peering through a gravitational lens to peek at supermassive black hole formation at the edge of time, Chandra has continued todo things that no other X-ray observatory can. It is unique, it is powerful, and it is healthy - poised to help continue framing the future of high energy astrophysics for years to come.  As we look forward to a future with continued advances in high-resolutionX-ray imaging, I will provide a summary of some of the most exciting results from Chandra's ever-increasing scientific legacy, along with a look ahead to its continued role as both a unique stand-alone facility and a core element for panchromatic investigations of the Universe.