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It was Bret Easton Ellis who coined the phrase, "The better you look, the more you see," and it appears the folks down at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab agree. In what's considered a "first," the agency's latest space-scouring probe, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, has turned on its X-ray vision to capture focused images of a black hole, dubbed Cygnus X-1, feeding on a nearby giant star. By tuning into these high-energy frequencies, scientists are getting a peak into a previously unseen side of the heavens at 100 times the sensitivity and 10 times the resolution of any preceding tech. The space agency plans to use the observatory's powerful sight to suss out other known areas of mass X-ray activity like 3C273, an active quasar located two billion light years away and even explore G21.5-0.9, the fallout from a supernova within the Milky Way galaxy. NuSTAR's first tour of galactic duty will span two year's time, during which it'll attempt to record imagery from "the most energetic objects in the universe, " as well as track the existence of black holes throughout the cosmos. Impressed? Yeah, us too.
Continue reading NASA's NuSTAR probe snaps first X-ray image of feeding black hole
NASA's NuSTAR probe snaps first X-ray image of feeding black hole originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 07:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The black hole-hunting telescope NASA announced last month launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean today. The $165 million NuSTAR mission will spend two years scouring the universe for black holes by scanning X-ray light at higher energies than its predecessors. According to Space.com, NuSTAR will especially target high-energy regions of the universe where "matter is falling onto black holes, as well as the leftovers from dead stars after they've exploded in supernovas." Head on past the break for a video of the launch and click through to the source link for more details and images.
Continue reading NASA's black hole-hunting NuSTAR mission launched today
NASA's black hole-hunting NuSTAR mission launched today originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Scientists will soon have a new tool at their disposal in their search for black holes and a greater understanding of what NASA describes as "the most energetic and exotic objects in space." The space agency announced today that it has begun preparing its Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array -- otherwise known as NuSTAR -- for launch from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, with a liftoff planned for no earlier than June 13th. The telescope is by far the most advanced of its type to date, boasting ten times the resolution and more than 100 times the sensitivity of its predecessors, as well as a new design that relies on a complex set of 133 ultra-thin nested mirrors -- a setup NASA compares to a Russian Doll. Those interested can get a brief overview of the mission in the video after the break
Continue reading NASA preps black hole-hunting space telescope for launch next month
NASA preps black hole-hunting space telescope for launch next month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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