Updated 14:52 IST, June 6th 2024
“To Infinity And Beyond”! NASA Launches Instagram Filter To Experience Universe's Wonders
NASA's Instagram filter brings cosmic wonders to your phone, celebrating Chandra X-ray Observatory's 25th anniversary with interactive AR experiences.

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has changed the way we used to explore the celestial world. The Hubble telescope has opened some unexplored places spearing through the gas cloud and looking for galaxies and stars in front of us. And now NASA has revolutionised the way we explore the cosmos by launching a special filter on Instagram, bringing nebulas, galaxies, stars, and meteors directly to your smartphone. This innovative feature, part of a NASA project, allows Instagram users to experience the universe's wonders through the lens of the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other space telescopes. The augmented reality (AR) filter is known as the “Instagram experience”.
How to use the NASA filters of Instagram? Check out these steps:
To use this incredible NASA feature on Instagram, follow these steps:
1. Search for the “NASAChandraXray" page.
2. Choose the filters under the profile and select one of the given 5 filters.
3. After selecting, click on “Try It” and save this effect to your camera to use in your stories.
Check out the post:
NASA also wrote a description for this image and wrote, “To infinity and beyond! Travel through the vastness of space and experience several astronomical objects — including the debris fields of exploded stars — with our new interactive Instagram experiences.
These new 3D experiences use models of celestial objects generated from data collected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. Through augmented reality, you can view yourself surrounded by nebulae, exploded stars, and more through your phone camera while also listening to the data transformed into sound – known as data sonifications.”
What's in the Brand-New NASA Instagram Filter?
By using this Instagram feature, people can include the wreckage of stars destroyed in massive supernova explosions, dense cosmic gas and dust, and other such elements in their selfies. The AR filter was added to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chandra, NASA's flagship X-ray space telescope.
The Instagram filter offers 3D experiences using models of celestial objects generated from data collected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. Users can view themselves through their phone cameras while also listening to the data transformed into sound—known as data sonifications—thanks to augmented reality.
About NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a powerful telescope designed to detect X-ray emissions from some of the most energetic regions of the Universe, such as exploded stars, clusters of galaxies, and matter around black holes. Chandra orbits above Earth at an altitude of up to 139,000 km (86,500 mi) in space. The Chandra X-ray Center, hosted by the Smithsonian's Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA, processes the data and distributes it to scientists worldwide.
With this new Instagram filter, NASA has made it possible for anyone with a smartphone to explore the universe in an interactive and educational way, bringing the marvels of space science closer to the public.
Published 14:52 IST, June 6th 2024