Chandra X-Ray Mirror

There is a Neil deGrasse Tyson video covering the topic of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This essay is in part derived from that video. I suggest that you view the discussion. It will be sixty-five minutes well spent.

This device doesn’t look anything like a planar mirror because X-ray photons cannot be reflected by any known surface in the way you see your reflection above your bathroom sink.

If you aim a stream of X-ray photons directly toward any particular surface, either a silvered mirror or some kind of intended lens, those photons will either pass right on through (which is what your medical X-rays do) or they will be absorbed. You will not be able alter the trajectory of an X-ray photon stream, at least not with any device like that.

However, X-ray photons can be grazed off a reflective surface to achieve a slight trajectory change if their initial angle of approach to the mirror surface is kept very small. With the surface of the Chandra X-ray mirror made extremely smooth, almost down to the atomic level, repeated grazing permits X-ray focus to be achieved. This is the operating principle of the Chandra X-ray Telescope’s mirror, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 The Chandra X-Ray Observatory mirrors showing a perspective view, a cut-away view, and x-ray photon trajectories. (Source: StarTalk Podcast)

The Chandra Observatory was launched on July 23, 1999, and has been doing great things ever since. Regrettably, however, its continued operation is in some jeopardy. Please see the following Google search result.

Figure 2 Google search result of the Chandra Telescope showing science funding budget cuts for the Chandra X-ray Observatory going from $69 million to zero. (Source: Google, 2026)

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

John Dunn is an electronics consultant and a graduate of The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (BSEE) and of New York University (MSEE).

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