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\h        The Chandra X-ray Observatory orbits high above the Earth, peering into the blackest reaches of space.

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\h        Exploring the most menacing and magnificent features of the cosmos, this remarkable telescope is

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\h        revealing what our eyes can't, taking us beyond visible light.

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\h        NARRATOR: The cosmic ocean twinkles and transforms with the birth of stars and their explosive demise into supernovas.

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\h        Brilliantly bright and wrought with destructive power, supernovas and their gaseous remnants are a frequent target of NASA's

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\h        Chandra X-ray Observatory because of the clues they give us about their earlier lives as stars.

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\h        Equipped with X-ray detectors to cut through the clutter and glare that blind optical telescopes,

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\h        Chandra's revealed details about supernovas that help to shown them for the stars that they once were.

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\h        DR. PAT SLANE: You see the effects of the swept-up interstellar medium lighting up a ring of X-ray emission.

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\h        You see the effects of the back pressure from that, pushing back toward the inside of the explosion where all the ejecta,

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\h        the stuff that was formed in the explosion in the interior of the star, flying out.

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\h        That's being compressed and heated to X-ray temperatures, as well.

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\h        NARRATOR: Stars can burn anywhere from millions to billions of years.

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\h        Exactly how long they thrive for depends on the amount of gas they have to feed their nuclear furnaces.

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\h        Eventually though, their fuel is exhausted and the fire goes out.

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\h        Like a baby's first glimpse into the outside world, the Chandra X-ray Observatory's first sight

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\h        in deep space was a bright supernova remnant called Cassiopeia A.

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\h        DR. CLAUDE CANIZARES: In that very first image, we made a discovery.

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\h        There was a little point source at the center, which is probably the collapsed core of the star that exploded when the

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\h        supernova went off. It's either a neutron star or black hole,

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\h        we're still not sure which, but people are still studying it and no one had ever seen it before.

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\h        NARRATOR: Ultimately, the death of stars may spawn the formation of other new planets and stars in the universe.

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\h        Such objects are made up of elements like carbon, hydrogen and iron.

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\h        These elements are forged deep in the hot interior of stars and need a self-destructive explosion to unleash them.

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\h        CANIZARES: What we're doing is studying essentially a star that's turned itself inside out,

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\h        very conveniently, and shown us what it's made of and what atomic elements might have been generated,

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\h        synthesized in the star and are being returned to the interstellar medium where they're going to eventually mix in with

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\h        other material and form new stars, new planets and maybe life somewhere

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\h        if there's enough of the right material and the right conditions.