Tag Archive for 'X-rays'

Composite images of Eta Carinae. Image credit: NASA / SAO / GSFC / Corcoran et al.

Chandra Discovers New Details about ‘Great Eruption’ of Eta Carinae

Sep 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers are tracking the expansion of the X-ray nebula around Eta Carinae, a luminous binary system...

The 50-million-year-old feather from the Green River biota, Wyoming, the United States. Image credit: Slater et al., doi: 10.1038/s41559-023-02177-8.

Paleontologists Detect Traces of Ancient Proteins in Fossil Feathers

Sep 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have analyzed 125-million-year-old feathers from a dinosaur species called Sinornithosaurus as well as feathers of the early bird Confuciusornis...

XRISM lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 07:42 p.m. EDT on September 6, 2023. Image credit: JAXA.

XRISM Mission Launches to Study Universe’s Most Energetic Objects and Events

Sep 8, 2023 by News Staff

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) — a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, with significant...

This artist’s impression shows the millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 stealing gas from its companion star. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Matter Ejections Explain Peculiar High-Low Mode Switches in Distant Millisecond Pulsar

Aug 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038 is known to switch between two brightness modes almost constantly, something that until now has been an enigma. This...

A giant black hole in PGC 43234 destroyed a large star and threw its pieces into space; the X-ray data reveal the relative amount of nitrogen compared to carbon in this stellar debris field. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Michigan / Miller et al. / M. Weiss.

ASASSN-14li: Supermassive Black Hole Destroys Massive Star, Throws Its Pieces into Space

Aug 22, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton and other telescopes have found evidence for a massive stellar disruption (over...

This Hubble image shows ACO 3322, a very massive galaxy cluster located 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation of Pictor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / H. Ebeling.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots X-ray Bright Galaxy Cluster

Aug 14, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble astronomers have released a new image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the massive galaxy cluster ACO 3322. This Hubble image...

SPT-CL J2215-3537 resembles a blue cloud with a hazy golden light at its core. The cluster is set against the blackness of space, which is dotted with white, orange and blue specks of light. A combination of X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, and infrared light, was used to create the image. The blue cloud represents X-ray gas observed by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The cloud is soft, and uniform in texture. Over time, galaxy clusters often merge or collide. These collisions cause disturbances and sharp features in a cluster’s gas. When a cluster takes on a smooth, calm appearance, as found here in SPT-CL J2215-3537, it indicates that no such collisions have occurred for a very long time. Astronomers call these galaxy clusters ‘relaxed.’ The hazy golden light at the heart of the cloud represents a massive central galaxy with a large amount of star formation. This central galaxy is quite isolated within the blue gas cloud. There are relatively few nearby specks of light near the central galaxy, and none are as bright or as large. No other large galaxies have been found within 600,000 light-years of the central galaxy. This implies that SPT-CL J2215-3537 has not experienced a galaxy merger in the last billion years. Image credit: NASA / CXC / MIT / M. Calzadilla / STScI / HST / N. Wolk.

Chandra Spots ‘Relaxed’ Galaxy Cluster in Distant Universe

Jul 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The dynamically relaxed galaxy cluster SPT-CL J2215-3537 is about 8.4 billion light-years from Earth, making it the farthest galaxy cluster ever spotted...

IXPE and Chandra images have been combined to show X-ray data of the area around Sagittarius A. The lower panel combines IXPE data, in orange, with Chandra data in blue. The upper panel depicts a much wider field-of-view of the center of the Milky Way. The thin white lines layered onto the top panel frame the highlighted area, and indicate that the perspective in the bottom panel has been rotated approximately 45 degrees to the right. The combination of IXPE and Chandra data helped the astronomers determine that the X-ray light identified in the molecular clouds originated from Sagittarius A* during an outburst approximately 200 years ago. Image credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center / Marin et al. / CXC / SAO / L. Frattare / J.Major / K.Arcand.

IXPE Detects 200-Year-Old Flare from Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

Jun 22, 2023 by News Staff

The center of the Milky Way Galaxy hosts Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole with a mass of about 4 million solar masses that is very quiescent....

An image of a ring shaped supramolecule where only one iron atom is present in the entire ring. Image credit: Ajayi et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06011-w.

Physicists X-Ray Single Atom for First Time

Jun 2, 2023 by News Staff

Since the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, its use has been ubiquitous, from medical and environmental applications to materials sciences....

An artist’s impression of a jet emanating from NGC 4993. Image credit: J.A. Biretta et al / NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Detect Variability in Extragalactic X-ray Jets

May 30, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers discovered only relatively recently that black hole jets emit X-rays, and how the jets accelerate particles to this high-energy state is a...

This composite image features four separate images that combine X-ray data from Chandra and infrared data from Webb, and some data from other telescopes like Hubble, Spitzer and XMM-Newton. Image credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / ESA / XMM-Newton / CSA / STScI / JPL / CalTech / ESO / L. Frattare / J. Major / K. Arcand.

Webb Captures Two Galaxies, Star-Forming Nebula, and Star Cluster

May 24, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New images that combine data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and several space- and ground-based telescopes show spiral galaxies NGC 1672...

This composite image shows the elliptical galaxy Centaurus A: blue color shows X-ray light captured by Chandra, orange represents X-rays detected by IXPE, and optical light seen by ESO is colored white and gray. Image credit: NASA / MSFC / IXPE / Ehlert et al. / CXC / SAO / ESO / WFI / J.Schmidt.

IXPE Observes Jet from Centaurus A’s Supermassive Black Hole

May 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Centaurus A is located 13 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus, and represents the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky. This composite...

Illustration of an Earth-like exoplanet after X-ray radiation exposure. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss.

X-Ray-Luminous Supernovae Pose Threat to Earth-Like Planetary Atmospheres, Study Says

Apr 20, 2023 by News Staff

The aftermaths of supernovae always produce X-rays, but if the supernova’s blast wave strikes dense surrounding gas, it can produce a particularly large...

This image of the Crab Nebula combines data from IXPE in magenta and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in dark purple. Image credit: IXPE / NASA / Chandra / CXC / SAO / K. Arcand / L. Frattare.

IXPE Observes Crab Nebula and Its Pulsar

Apr 11, 2023 by News Staff

Located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus, the Crab Nebula and its pulsar formed in a supernova whose light reached Earth in July 1054. This...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Astrophysicists Find New Evidence for Standard Model of Cosmology

Apr 4, 2023 by News Staff

Astrophysicists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have measured the X-ray emission from galaxy clusters, which revealed...

This image features 3C 297 that is lonelier than expected after it likely pulled in and absorbed its former companion galaxies. In this new composite image, Chandra data is colored purple, VLA data is red and Gemini data is green. Visible light and infrared data from Hubble (blue and orange respectively) have also been included. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Torino / Missaglia et al. / ESA / STScI & International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Chandra Finds Surprisingly Lonely Galaxy in Early Universe

Mar 9, 2023 by News Staff

3C 297 is located about 9.2 billion light-years away in the constellation of Virgo and contains a quasar, a supermassive black hole pulling in gas at the...

This image shows the Vela pulsar wind nebula: light blue represents X-ray polarization data from IXPE; pink and purple colors correspond to data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory; the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope contributed the stars in the background. Image credit: IXPE / NASA / MSFC / Fei Xie / CXC / SAO / STScI / Hubble / Chandra / Judy Schmidt / Kimberly Arcand / Nancy Wolk.

Polarized X-ray Detection Sheds New Light on Vela Pulsar Wind Nebula

Mar 8, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) — a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency — have observed...

This image shows Tycho’s SNR, which is located between 8,000 and 10,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. IXPE data (dark purple and white) have been combined with data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (red and blue) and overlaid with the stars in the field of view as captured by the Digitized Sky Survey. Image credit: IXPE / NASA / ASI / MSFC / INAF / Ferrazzoli et al. / Chandra / CXC / RIKEN / GSFC / Sato et al. / DSS / SAO / K. Arcand, L. Frattare & N. Wolk.

IXPE Detects Polarized X-Rays from Tycho’s Supernova Remnant

Mar 2, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) — a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency — have observed...

Two dwarf-dwarf galaxy mergers in galaxy clusters Abell 133 (left) and Abell 1758S (right) are shown in X-rays from Chandra and optical light from the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. The merger on the left is in a late stage and was given the single name of Mirabilis. The other merger is in the early stages and the two dwarf galaxies are named Elstir (bottom) and Vinteuil (top). Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Alabama / Micic et al. / International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA.

Chandra Spots Two Pairs of Supermassive Black Holes on Collision Courses

Feb 23, 2023 by News Staff

According to observations and cosmological simulations, dwarf galaxies are the most abundant type of galaxies in the early Universe and the galaxy merger...

Strongly driven systems of emitters offer an attractive source of light over broad spectral ranges up to the X-ray region. A key limitation of these systems is that the light they emit is mostly classical. Pizzi et al. overcome this constraint by building a quantum-optical theory of strongly driven many-body systems, showing that the presence of correlations among the emitters creates emission of non-classical many-photon states of light. Image credit: DeepAI / Sci.News.

Theoretical Physicists Devise New Path toward High-Energy ‘Quantum Light’

Feb 2, 2023 by News Staff

Physicists have developed a novel theory describing a new state of light, which has controllable quantum properties over a broad range of frequencies,...

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