Published

Sep 3, 2026 9:16 AM EDT

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While we have months to wait for the first images from the freshly-launched Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s other incredible observatories do not disappoint. The agency released a new collection of 16 galactic images taken with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. 

Galaxies are separated into three main categories—spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars. Spirals are like our own Milky Way and appear to spin around a central focus. Ellipticals are older galaxies and likely the results of mergers. Irregulars that can encompass a wide range of galactic phenomena. 

Spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars are all represented in this new collection. Each image hasX-ray data from Chandra, combined with data from other telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Hubble, IXPE, Swift, and NuSTAR, and others both in space and on the ground. Gaze into the galaxies in the gallery below. (Click to expand images to full screen.)

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