An All-Sky X-Ray Image of the Universe
Made by the German-Russian eRosita telescope (which is currently mounted on the orbiting Spektr-RG space observatory), this remarkable image—completed last week—is an x-ray map of the universe. The scan was taken approximately 930,000 million miles from Earth’s surface, and “will revolutionize x-ray astronomy,” says Kirpal Nandra of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. The electrifying image records “violent action in the cosmos” which appear as bright colors. In order to better understand the picture: “blues represent higher energy x-rays (1-2.3 kiloelectron volts, keV); greens are mid-range (0.6-1 keV); and reds are lower energy (0.3-0.6 keV).” Dust, gas, black holes, the remnants of exploded stars—the image depicts a huge amount of wild action happening light years away from this planet. The eRosita is set to collect seven more “all-sky surveys” during the next three years. Read more at the BBC.
Via bbc.com link opens in a new window
