The outstanding capabilities of the Chandra X-ray observatory have greatly
increased our potential to observe and analyze thermal radiation from the
surfaces of neutron stars (NSs). Such observations allow one to measure the
surface temperatures and confront them with the predictions of the NS cooling
models. Detection of gravitationally redshifted spectral lines can yield the NS
mass-to-radius ratio. In rare cases when the distance is known, one can measure
the NS radius, which is particularly important to constrain the equation of
state of the superdense matter in the NS interiors. Finally, one can infer the
chemical composition of the NS surface layers, which provides information about
formation of NSs and their interaction with the environment. We overview the
recent Chandra results on the thermal radiation from various types of NSs --
active pulsars, young radio-quiet neutron stars in supernova remnants, old
radio-silent ``dim'' neutron stars -- and discuss their implications.Comment: URL changed for Figures 1, 12 and 18:
ftp://ftp.xray.mpe.mpg.de/people/zavli
