25
Jul 14

Mystery in the Perseus Cluster

Source: NASA Science News

A mysterious X-ray signal from the Perseus cluster of galaxies, which researchers say cannot be explained by known physics, could be a key clue to the nature of Dark Matter.(learn more)

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16
Dec 11

Abell 2052: A Galaxy Cluster Gets Sloshed

Source: Chandra CXC


Image credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/BU/E.Blanton; Optical: ESO/VLT

Like wine in a glass, vast clouds of hot gas are sloshing back and forth in Abell 2052, a galaxy cluster located about 480 million light years from Earth. X-ray data (blue) from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows the hot gas in this dynamic system, and optical data (gold) from the Very Large Telescope shows the galaxies. The hot, X-ray bright gas has an average temperature of about 30 million degrees.(read more)

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25
Aug 11

Swift satellite spots Black Hole devouring a Star

Source: NASA News/SWIFT


Image credit: NRAO/CfA/Zauderer et al

Two studies appearing in the August 25 issue of th journal Nature provide new insights into a cosmic accident that has been streaming X-rays toward Earth since late March. NASA's Swift satellite first alerted astronomers to intense and unusual high-energy flares from the new source in the constellation Draco. (read more)

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