{"id":9879,"date":"2024-01-05T12:07:22","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T16:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-jaxa-xrism-mission-reveals-its-first-look-at-x-ray-cosmos\/"},"modified":"2024-01-05T12:07:22","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T16:07:22","slug":"nasa-jaxa-xrism-mission-reveals-its-first-look-at-x-ray-cosmos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-jaxa-xrism-mission-reveals-its-first-look-at-x-ray-cosmos\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\/JAXA XRISM Mission Reveals Its First Look at X-ray Cosmos"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\/JAXA XRISM Mission Reveals Its First Look at X-ray Cosmos<\/h2>\n

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4 min read<\/p>\n

NASA\/JAXA XRISM Mission Reveals Its First Look at X-ray Cosmos<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission)<\/a> observatory has released a first look at the unprecedented data it will collect when science operations begin later this year.<\/p>\n

The satellite\u2019s science team released a snapshot of a cluster of hundreds of galaxies and a spectrum of stellar wreckage in a neighboring galaxy, which gives scientists a detailed look at its chemical makeup.<\/p>\n

\u201cXRISM will provide the international science community with a new glimpse of the hidden X-ray sky,\u201d said Richard Kelley, the U.S. principal investigator for XRISM at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a> in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cWe\u2019ll not only see X-ray images of these sources, but also study their compositions, motions, and physical states.\u201d<\/p>\n

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XRISM\u2019s Resolve instrument captured data from supernova remnant N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud to create the most detailed X-ray spectrum of the object ever made. The spectrum reveals peaks associated with silicon, sulfur, argon, calcium, and iron. Inset at right is an image of N132D captured by XRISM\u2019s Xtend instrument.<\/div>\n
Credit: JAXA\/NASA\/XRISM Resolve and Xtend<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

XRISM (pronounced \u201ccrism\u201d) is led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)<\/a> in collaboration with NASA, along with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency)<\/a>. It launched on Sept. 6, 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s designed to detect X-rays with energies up to 12,000 electron volts and will study the universe\u2019s hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity. For comparison, the energy of visible light is 2 to 3 electron volts.<\/p>\n

The mission has two instruments, Resolve and Xtend, each at the focus of an X-ray Mirror Assembly designed and built at Goddard.<\/p>\n

Resolve is a microcalorimeter spectrometer<\/a> developed by NASA and JAXA. It operates at just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero inside a refrigerator-sized container of liquid helium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When an X-ray hits Resolve\u2019s 6-by-6-pixel detector, it warms the device by an amount related to its energy. By measuring each individual X-ray\u2019s energy, the instrument provides information previously unavailable about the source.<\/p>\n

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Supernova remnant N132D lies in the central portion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy about 160,000 light-years away. XRISM\u2019s Xtend captured the remnant in X-rays, displayed in the inset. At its widest, N132D is about 75 light-years across. Although bright in X-rays, the stellar wreckage is almost invisible in the ground-based background view taken in optical light.<\/div>\n
Credit: Inset, JAXA\/NASA\/XRISM Xtend; background, C. Smith, S. Points, the MCELS Team and NOIRLab\/NSF\/AURA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The mission team used Resolve to study N132D, a supernova remnant and one of the brightest X-ray sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy around 160,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado. The expanding wreckage is estimated to be about 3,000 years old and was created when a star roughly 15 times the Sun\u2019s mass ran out of fuel, collapsed, and exploded.<\/p>\n

The Resolve spectrum shows peaks associated with silicon, sulfur, calcium, argon, and iron. This is the most detailed X-ray spectrum of the object ever obtained and demonstrates the incredible science the mission will do when regular operations begin later in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese elements were forged in the original star and then blasted away when it exploded as a supernova,\u201d said Brian Williams, NASA\u2019s XRISM project scientist at Goddard. \u201cResolve will allow us to see the shapes of these lines in a way never possible before, letting us determine not only the abundances of the various elements present, but also their temperatures, densities, and directions of motion at unprecedented levels of precision. From there, we can piece together information about the original star and the explosion.\u201d<\/p>\n

XRISM\u2019s second instrument, Xtend, is an X-ray imager developed by JAXA. It gives XRISM a large field of view, allowing it to observe an area about 60% larger than the average apparent size of the full moon.<\/p>\n

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XRISM\u2019s Xtend instrument captured galaxy cluster Abell 2319 in X-rays, shown here in purple and outlined by a white border representing the extent of the detector. The background is a ground-based image showing the area in visible light.<\/div>\n
Credit: JAXA\/NASA\/XRISM Xtend; background, DSS<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Xtend captured an X-ray image of Abell 2319, a rich galaxy cluster<\/a> about 770 million light-years away in the northern constellation Cygnus. It\u2019s the fifth brightest X-ray cluster in the sky and is currently undergoing a major merger event.<\/p>\n

The cluster is 3 million light-years across and highlights Xtend\u2019s wide field of view.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven before the end of the commissioning process, Resolve is already exceeding our expectations,\u201d said Lillian Reichenthal, NASA\u2019s XRISM project manager at Goddard. \u201cOur goal was to achieve a spectral resolution of 7 electron volts with the instrument, but now that it\u2019s in orbit, we\u2019re achieving 5. What that means is we\u2019ll get even more detailed chemical maps with each spectrum XRISM captures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resolve is performing exceptionally and already conducting exciting science despite an issue with the aperture door covering its detector. The door, designed to protect the detector before launch, has not opened as planned after several attempts. The door blocks lower-energy X-rays, effectively cutting the mission off at 1,700 electron volts compared to the planned 300. The XRISM team will continue to explore the anomaly and is investigating different approaches to opening the door. The Xtend instrument is unaffected.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s XRISM General Observer Facility<\/a>, hosted at Goddard, is accepting proposals for observations from members of U.S. and Canadian institutions through Thursday, April 4. Cycle 1 of XRISM General Observer investigations will begin in the summer of 2024.<\/p>\n

XRISM is a collaborative mission between JAXA and NASA, with participation by ESA. NASA\u2019s contribution includes science participation from the Canadian Space Agency.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tDownload high-resolution images from NASA\u2019s Scientific Visualization Studio.<\/span>
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By Jeanette Kazmierczak
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media Contacts:<\/strong>
Alise Fisher
NASA Headquarters<\/a>, Washington
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Claire Andreoli
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/a>, Greenbelt, Md.
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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