Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory, astronomers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville have investigated the central region of the galaxy NGC 1600, focusing on its ultramassive black hole (UMBH). Results of the study, presented in a paper published February 11 on the arXiv pre-print server, shed more light on the properties of this UMBH. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-ultramassive-black-hole-ngc.html…
Tag: x-ray
Insight-HXMT gives insight into origin of fast radio bursts
The latest observations from Insight-HXMT were published online in Nature Astronomy on Feb. 18. Insight-HXMT has discovered the very first X-ray burst associated with a fast radio burst (FRB) and has identified that it originated from soft-gamma repeater (SGR) J1935+2154, which is a magnetar in our Milky Way. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-insight-hxmt-insight-fast-radio.html…
Cold dust cores in the central zone of the Milky Way
The Milky Way’s central molecular zone (CMZ) spans the innermost 1600 light-years of the galaxy (for comparison, the Sun is 26,600 light-years away from the galactic center) and includes a vast complex of molecular clouds containing about sixty million solar-masses of molecular gas. The gas in these clouds exists under more extreme physical conditions than elsewhere in the galaxy on average,…
X-ray emission from dark matter
About eighty-five percent of the matter in the cosmos emits neither light nor any other known kind of radiation as far as is known, and hence is called dark matter. One of its other notable qualities is that it only interacts with other matter via gravity; it carries no electromagnetic charge, for example. Dark matter is also called “dark” because it…
Maarten Schmidt solves the puzzle of quasars
On February 5, 1963, Maarten Schmidt unraveled the mystery of quasars and pushed back the edges of the known cosmos. His insight into quasars – the most distant and luminous objects known – has changed the way scientists view the universe. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-maartin-schmidt-discovers-first-known-quasar…
A giant black hole suddenly went dark, and no one knows why
In 2018, one of the brightest X-ray lights in the sky went dark, and scientists still aren’t sure why. Source: https://www.livescience.com/black-hole-mysteriously-goes-dark.html
JADES will go deeper than the Hubble Deep Fields
Astronomers announced this month that a new deep-field survey called JADES will be carried out with the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’s much-anticipated successor. The Webb is due to launch later this year. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/jades-deep-field-surveys-epoch-of-1st-galaxies…
Astronomers discover new candidate redback millisecond pulsar
Astronomers report the finding of a new candidate redback millisecond pulsar (MSP) binary associated with a gamma-ray source known as 4FGL J0940.3–7610. The newly found object is a short-period compact binary exhibiting X-ray emission that consists of a low-mass neutron star and a companion star with a mass most likely over 0.4 solar masses. The discovery is detailed in a paper…
Study sheds more light on the properties of the X-ray pulsar XTE J1858+034
Using NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), an international team of astronomers has conducted X-ray observations of an accreting X-ray pulsar known as XTE J1858+034. Results of the study, presented in a paper published January 18 on the arXiv pre-print server, provide more insights into the properties of this source. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-properties-x-ray-pulsar-xte-j1858034.html…
Suzaku observations find X-ray intraday variability of the blazar PKS 2155−304
Using the Suzaku satellite, astronomers have examined a very high energy (VHE) blazar known as PKS 2155−304. They found that the source exhibits an X-ray intraday variability, which could improve the understanding of its nature. The finding is reported in a paper published January 15 on arXiv.org. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-suzaku-x-ray-intraday-variability-blazar.html…