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NASA Discovers Mysterious Low-Energy X-Ray Sources
Confirmed
In Short: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found 84 'hypersoft X-ray sources' in six galaxies, emitting unusually low-energy X-rays but intense ultraviolet radiation.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered a new class of cosmic objects, dubbed 'hypersoft X-ray sources,' which emit unusually low-energy X-rays but intense ultraviolet radiation.
These sources were identified by comparing Chandra's high- and low-energy X-ray images, revealing objects that appeared in low-energy images but vanished in higher-energy ones.
The researchers found these sources in regions of both active star formation and areas with older stars, suggesting they could be solving two long-standing cosmic mysteries.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, launched recently, will further explore the universe's mysteries, potentially increasing the number of known exoplanets from about 6,000 to 100,000.
What's confirmed
- “These clandestine X-ray sources are actually among the most energetic objects in galaxies, and they could be solving two cosmic mysteries at once,” said Muhibullah.
- “By combing through the Chandra archive, we were able to eliminate what used to be a blind spot for telescopes,” said co-author Rosanne Di Stefano of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
What's still developing
- The researchers found a total of 84 of these “hypersoft X-ray sources” – so named because they give such low-energy X-rays – in the six different galaxies they searched, using data openly available to the public in the Chandra archive.
- Because low-energy X-rays border energetic ultraviolet radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum, the researchers determined that these sources are producing large amounts of energetic ultraviolet radiation as well.
- To learn more about NASA’s Chandra mission, visit: This release features a composite image of a spiral galaxy, M101; one of six identified galaxies housing a new class of mysterious objects that give off unusually low-energy X-rays.
- In a recent paper published in Nature Astronomy, researchers described these new cosmic objects as having high levels of ultraviolet radiation but low-intensity X-rays.
- Such material would heat as it fell into one of the three suggested objects, theoretically producing the observed X-rays.
- While these types of binary systems have all been observed previously, this combination of ultraviolet radiation and low-energy X-rays hasn’t been associated with them.
- “Of course, the next step was to try to figure out what these things are.” The new research used data from a publicly accessible Chandra archive provided by NASA, including the spiral Andromeda and Pinwheel galaxies and an additional four elliptical galaxies.
- NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said at a postlaunch press conference that all systems appear nominal after launch.