XRISM Unveils the Invisible: A New Era in X-Ray Astronomy – SciTechDaily

XRISMs 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 XRISMs Xtend instrument. Credit: JAXA/NASA/XRISM Resolve and Xtend

XRISM, a collaborative mission between Japan, NASA, and ESA, is set to revolutionize X-ray astronomy with its advanced instruments, offering unprecedented insights into the universes hottest and most massive structures.

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

The satellites 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.

XRISM will provide the international science community with a new glimpse of the hidden X-ray sky, said Richard Kelley, the U.S. principal investigator for XRISM at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Well not only see X-ray images of these sources, but also study their compositions, motions, and physical states.

XRISM (pronounced crism) is led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA, along with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency). It launched on September 6, 2023.

Supernova remnant N132D lies in the central portion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy about 160,000 light-years away. XRISMs 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. Credit: Inset, JAXA/NASA/XRISM Xtend; background, C. Smith, S. Points, the MCELS Team and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Its designed to detect X-rays with energies up to 12,000 electron volts and will study the universes hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity. For comparison, the energy of visible light is 2 to 3 electron volts.

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

Resolve is a microcalorimeter spectrometer 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.

When an X-ray hits Resolves 6-by-6-pixel detector, it warms the device by an amount related to its energy. By measuring each individual X-rays energy, the instrument provides information previously unavailable about the source.

XRISMs Xtend imager collected this snapshot of supernova remnant N132D. The expanding wreckage is estimated to be about 3,000 years old and was created when a star roughly 15 times the Suns mass ran out of fuel, collapsed, and exploded. At its widest, N132D is about 75 light-years across. Credit: JAXA/NASA/XRISM Xtend

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 Suns mass ran out of fuel, collapsed, and exploded.

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.

These elements were forged in the original star and then blasted away when it exploded as a supernova, said Brian Williams, NASAs XRISM project scientist at Goddard. Resolve 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.

XRISMs 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. Credit: JAXA/NASA/XRISM Xtend; background, DSS

XRISMs 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.

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

The cluster is 3 million light-years across and highlights Xtends wide field of view.

This composite image shows supernova remnant N132D. It uses data from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple and green) and Hubble Space Telescope (red). N132D is among the brightest X-ray remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. Credit: NASA/STScI/CXC/SAO, processing by Judy Schmidt, CC BY-NC-SA

Even before the end of the commissioning process, Resolve is already exceeding our expectations, said Lillian Reichenthal, NASAs XRISM project manager at Goddard. Our goal was to achieve a spectral resolution of 7 electron volts with the instrument, but now that its in orbit, were achieving 5. What that means is well get even more detailed chemical maps with each spectrum XRISM captures.

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.

NASAs XRISM General Observer Facility, 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.

XRISM is a collaborative mission between JAXA and NASA, with participation by ESA. NASAs contribution includes science participation from the Canadian Space Agency.

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XRISM Unveils the Invisible: A New Era in X-Ray Astronomy - SciTechDaily