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Chandra Supernova Remnant Catalog

Galaxies are littered with supernova remnants: expanding clouds of material blasted out during the explosions of massive stars. These remnants are complex: full of strong magnetic fields, high-temperature collisions between particles, and flows of material into interstellar space. The clouds are rich environments that provide raw materials for future star formation, as well as laboratories for studying extreme astrophysics. For that reason, the Chandra Supernova Remnant Catalog collects the available observational data collected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory about supernova remnants in the Milky Way and our neighboring galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds. The catalog is managed by astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and includes information about the remnants’ shapes and X-ray spectra, along with corresponding radio observations for some specimens.