Chandra X-ray Observations of Cygnus A and Pictor A

We describe observations of the two nearest, powerful radio galaxies with the Chandra X-ray Observatory: Cygnus A (z = 0.0562) and Pictor A (z = 0.035). Since the early results from these observations are published elsewhere (Wilson, Young & Shopbell 2000, 2001), we here confine ourselves to a summary of the main conclusions and a few remarks about other aspects of the results on Cygnus A, which will be amplified in a future paper.