Who works on ChaMP?

A team of scientists and astronomers lead by the CXC ( Chandra X-ray Center ) joining with the NOAO ( National Optical Astronomical Observatiories ), MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology ), MMTO ( Multi-Mirror Telescope Observatory ) SDSS ( Sloan Digital Sky Survey ) and other institutions around the world will collaborate to work on a multiwavelength identification program that will give us clues on the origin of the universe and what is in store for our future.
For a complete list of the cast and their jobs click here

Where is ChaMP?

ChaMP's homebase is at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, located on 60 Garden Street. There are also other observatories that collaborate with the SAO ( Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory ) such as the NOAO in Kit Peak, Arizona, and the MMTO in Tucson, Arizona.

When did ChaMP first start?

ChaMP's beginning was in December of 1999, not long after the Chandra X-ray satellite was launched in July of 1999.

Why is ChaMP important?

ChaMP will provide a bunch of new information regarding: the red shift of clusters, AGN (how many there really are and how their X-rays effect the history of the universe), the brightness of CVs and LMXRBs, heat emisson from stars as their cores expand, new luminosity and red shift of the CXRB, information on galactic clusters, X-ray binaries, and supernova remnants. ChaMP will become an important aid for studing CXRB and its sources. ChaMP will also prove important in the finding of rare unexpected sources in deep space such as high-redshift clusters and X-ray Binaries. ChaMP's public archive data base will provide an impressive multiwavelength data base to the community to make sure that all of the scientific data coming from Chandra will be used to its fullest capabilities.

How does ChaMP work?

ChaMP uses the X-ray observations taken from the Chandra X-ray satellite and compares them with images of the same star field ( group of stars in an image) in an optical picture. They find the coodornates of the x-ray sources in both the x-ray images and the optical images. In some images there may just be quasars, or galaxies, or even BLACK HOLES. Once scientists have found the coodinates of the objects they first compare their brightness. If the same image is bright in an x-ray photo, but not in an optical photo than that image may be a quasar ( quasars emit lots of x-rays). By finding the coodinates in both pictures a specific coodinate is given in order to find the spectrum( determination of the chemical makeup by looking at the light emitted from the star). The spectrum can tell us loads of info about certain types of objects. It can tell us where the object is moving and what will eventually happen to it. Will it collide with another object? Will it explode? Will it collapse into a black hole? All of these questions can be answered by a spectrum of light from the object.