Published: Oct. 5, 2012 at 7:50 PM<\/p>\n
GREENBELT, Md., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- NASA says its Swift satellite detected X-rays from close to the center of our Milky Way galaxy, evidence of a previously unknown stellar-mass black hole. <\/p>\n
\"Bright X-ray novae are so rare that they're essentially once-a-mission events and this is the first one Swift has seen,\" said Neil Gehrels, Swift principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. <\/p>\n
The rapidly brightening source triggered Swift's Burst Alert Telescope twice on the morning of Sept. 16 and once again the next day, NASA reported. <\/p>\n
\"This is really something we've been waiting for,\" Gehrels said. <\/p>\n
An X-ray nova is a short-lived X-ray source that appears suddenly, reaches its emission peak in just a few days and then fades out over a period of months, started by a torrent of gas suddenly rushing toward one of the most compact objects known, either a neutron star or a black hole. <\/p>\n
\"The pattern we're seeing is observed in X-ray novae where the central object is a black hole,\" said Boris Sbarufatti, an astrophysicist at Brera Observatory in Milan, Italy, currently working with other Swift team members at Penn State. <\/p>\n
\"Once the X-rays fade away, we hope to measure its mass and confirm its black hole status.\" <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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NASA satellite sees new black hole<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Published: Oct. Continue reading