Chandra Events at the 21st HEAD Meeting
Thomas Connor
Chandra Events at the 21st HEAD Meeting
The Chandra Director’s Office would like to bring to your attention some Chandra-related events during the 21st meeting of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society. In particular, please note that there will be a special session on “Chandra at 25” on the afternoon of the 11th. Please refer to the meeting program for the latest information or to explore other events. All times are CDT.
Special Session: Chandra at 25 (Granite Ballroom ABC)
Thursday, April 11th starting at 1:40 PM
https://submissions.mirasmart.com/HEAD21/Itinerary/EventDetail.aspx?evt=10
The launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 1999 marked the beginning of a golden age in X-ray astronomy. With its groundbreaking spatial and spectral resolution, Chandra has been an incredible resource for the advancement of our understanding of the Universe.
We are celebrating Chandra’s 25th anniversary with a special session highlighting some of the revolutionary scientific discoveries and greatest accomplishments that Chandra brought in the past 25 years, concentrating especially on those most recent.
Members of the large and very active Chandra community will speak about discoveries in several areas of X-ray and multiwavelength astronomy from stars to clusters and about the major scientific advances facilitated by Chandra.
Chandra and Sgr A*: 25 Years of Greatness
Daryl Haggard
1:40 PM
Chandra was the first observatory to detect X-ray flares from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, and later to characterize its faint quiescent X-ray emission. This ground-breaking X-ray discovery has become a cornerstone for theories of accretion and emission in low-luminosity AGN, growing alongside a rich field of multi-wavelength observations, including from the Event Horizon Telescope and most recently JWST. I will review Sgr A*’s unique X-ray variability, traced out over nearly 25 years of observations from coordinated multi-wavelength campaigns. I will compare these detailed studies of Sgr A* to equally impressive multi-wavelength observations of M87* and briefly explore how we can continue to push the frontiers of black hole research with existing and next-generation observatories.
Supernova Remnants and their Progenitor Systems
Tea Temim
2:10 PM
Supernovae are among the most energetic events in the universe and play a key role in shaping the energy balance, structure, and chemical content of galaxies. They are responsible for the formation and distribution of heavy elements and dust grains that enrich the interstellar media in which they evolve, and they leave behind compact objects whose high densities and magnetic field strengths represent matter under some of the most extreme conditions known. Despite their great importance in astrophysics, the details of how the explosions occur – from how the final stages of progenitor evolution proceed to which massive stars produce which subtypes of supernovae – are still not entirely understood. Supernova remnants, the nearby remains of supernova explosions, allow us to spatially resolve and study the expelled material and the circumstellar environment in detail. I will describe how multi-wavelength studies of supernova remnants, and X-ray observations in particular, can inform us about the progenitor systems and supernova explosion properties. I will also discuss some highlights on the synergy between Chandra and new JWST observations of young supernova remnants.
A Quarter Century of AGN Discoveries through the Eyes of Chandra
Stephanie LaMassa
2:40 PM
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes that reside at the centers of galaxies. In addition to serving as signposts of black hole growth across the Universe, the enormous energy output from AGN shape their galactic environments. The combination of Chandra’s X-ray sensitivity and angular resolution is paramount for learning about AGN physics and the impact AGN have on their surroundings. These capabilities enable Chandra to resolve X-ray jets on kiloparsec scales and extranuclear X-ray emission spanning tens of parsecs in nearby AGN host galaxies. Surveys with Chandra from the dawn of the mission to the present day reveal the cosmic growth history of supermassive black holes. Chandra’s legacy will continue in the coming years as its unique capabilities provide incredible synergy with JWST and other multiwavelength and multimessenger observatories to unlock the mysteries of black hole and galaxy co-evolution.
Chandra X-Ray Observatory Booth (Tower Palm Pavilion)
We encourage you to visit the Chandra booth, where you can browse featured materials, learn about our upcoming 25 years symposium, pick up swag, interact with Chandra staff, and catch up on the goings-on of the Observatory. We will be in the Tower Palm Pavilion for the duration of the meeting!
Splinter Session: New Paths of Data-Driven Discovery with the Chandra Source Catalog (Cottonwood)
Thursday, April 11th starting at 12:05 PM
https://submissions.mirasmart.com/HEAD21/Itinerary/EventDetail.aspx?evt=34
The era of data-driven discovery is producing a wave of new science in high energy astrophysics, and the Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) is one of the most effective tools that enables it. With the release of version 2.1 of the CSC, new areas of the sky have become available to high energy astrophysics to improve statistics in population studies, find new forms of transients, and characterize different types of astrophysical sources. With over 400,000 sources in the sky and 1.6 million detections, the CSC represents a rich data repository with many applications in the era of Big Data and Open Science. This is already being reflected in the recent literature. In this special session we will highlight recent cutting-edge science that employs the CSC tables and data products, such as spectra and light curves, to investigate topics such as the automatic classification of X-ray sources using machine learning, stellar evolution in galactic open clusters, supermassive black hole growth and its dependence on stellar mass, and the redshift evolution of ULX at intermediate redshifts. A diverse cohort of early career scientists will present their CSC-enabled research and discuss how CSC can be used to advance high energy astrophysics. This is the second in a series of sessions that focus on the use of the CSC and other catalogs for data-driven discovery.
The Chandra Source Catalog 2.1
Rafael Martinez-Galarza
12:05 PM
Probing Supermassive Black Hole Growth and its Dependence on Stellar Mass and Star-Formation Rate in Low-Redshift Galaxies
Olena Torbaniuk
12:19 PM
Discovering Hyper-Luminous X-ray Sources and Intermediate-Mass Black Holes with the CSC
Scott Barrows
12:38 PM
Multiwavelength Classification of CSC Sources with a Supervised Machine-Learning Approach
Steven Chen
12:57 PM
Automated Identification of Emission Lines to Classify X-ray Sources
Pavan Hebbar
1:16 PM