What do you see? 🌌

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Invisible to our eyes, X-rays emitted by the hot gas that fills much of the Universe can shed light on many cosmic mysteries. The 'first light' observations of this gas by @jaxajp's X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) are now ready. They demonstrate that the mission will play a big role in unveiling the evolution of the Universe and the structure of spacetime.

The first test image is a wide view of a nearby cluster of galaxies called Abell 2319. In purple we see X-ray light from million-degree gas that permeates between the galaxies in the cluster. Observing this gas helps astronomers measure the total mass of the galaxy cluster, revealing information about the birth and evolution of the Universe.



The image from XRISM (shown in purple) has been overlaid on a visible-light image from a ground-based telescope.The second colourful shot shows the remains of a massive star exploding in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud. The different colours indicate different energies of X-ray light, with red being lowest energy and blue being highest energy. 

XRISM could complement the image of the supernova remnant taken by Xtend (top right) with a super-sharp view of the chemical elements that exist within N132D. This allows scientists to work out where exactly in the supernova remnant each element can be found.

XRISM can identify each element by measuring the specific energy of X-ray light that it emits. The graph above shows separate spikes that were previously indistinguishable; this sets the stage for new insights into the formation and distribution of elements in the Universe, which form the basis of stars, planets and life itself.The spacecraft commissioning phase will be finished by the end of January. In February, JAXA will start calibrating the instruments and demonstrating their capabilities.

The observing time allocated to us, will enable European scientists to seize the extraordinary scientific opportunities offered by the unprecedented high-resolution spectroscopic capabilities of XRISM.

📸 X-ray (JAXA), Optical (DSS)

📸 JAXA

#XRISM #XRays #FirstImages

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