The OSIRIS - male monarch space vehicle set out on September 8 , 2016 to examine the asteroid Bennu . But last fall , one of its experiments observe something surprising : a flare from a black jam .
OSIRIS - REx launched with a suite of instruments , including the Regolith X - Ray Imaging Spectrometer , or REXIS . The pawn , scarper by MIT and Harvard students and faculty , is meant to evaluate tenner - rays that Bennu spit out after the Sun irradiates it . But the imager can descry other x - beam phenomenon , too , like an outburst of x - rays from MAXI J0637 - 043 , a black golf hole 30,000 light - years away . The finding is detailed in apress releasefrom NASA Goddard Space Flight Center .
The OSIRIS - REx mission planners chose Bennu as their target because it ’s made up of carbonaceous material that has been just spay since the solar system of rules ’s earliest twenty-four hour period ( and the fact that it ’s not too far away from Earth ) . In addition to bringing a sampling of the asteroid to Earth , the spacecraft has a host of scientific discipline equipment to study the rock , including cameras , scan instruments , and composing - mensurate spectrometers such as REXIS . The REXIS experimentation ’s primary goal is to condition students how to establish , function , and manage spaceflight ironware .
X-ray outburst from the black hole MAXI J0637-043.Image: (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/MIT/Harvard)
Two scope in Earth ’s domain also blame up the flare , but the observation by REXIS is the first time a black hole outburst has been measured from deep blank space . Though the scientist have pointed the football game - sized instrument at Bennu , other sources of x - rays shine through , especially because there ’s no ambience to absorb hug drug - rays as there is on Earth .
scientist use dissimilar wavelengths of light to research the motley of objects in the universe . decade - ray telescope are popular for follow high - energy sources like supernovae , black holes gobbling up debris , and other live objects . Bennu does n’t emit x - rays directly ; it takes in x - rays from the Sun and reradiates them at a slightly different wavelength , a phenomenon address fluorescence . scientist can use this information alongside other utter wavelength to help characterize the kinds of elements Bennu incorporate .
“ detect this X - shaft burst is a proud moment for the REXIS squad . It intend our instrument is performing as expected and to the level required of NASA science instruments , ” Madeline Lambert , an MIT graduate pupil , said in the NASA acquittance .
Congrats to this student squad on their unexpected uncovering !
asteroidsAstronomyBlack holesOSIRIS - RExScience
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