A massive X-ray observing mission will begin on Saturday, August 26, to give astronomers a look at some of the most extreme, explosive and hot objects and events in the universe. The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with support from the European Space Agency (ESA), will study things like the hot gas envelopes surrounding galaxy clusters and from powerful black holes-beasts. Flames. Their results will help scientists better understand the evolution of the universe.

“X-ray astronomy allows us to study the most energetic phenomena in the universe,” ESA’s XRISM project scientist Matteo Guainazzi said in a statement. “It holds the key to answering important questions in modern astrophysics: how the largest structures in the universe evolve, how the matter we ultimately form is distributed in space, and how galaxies form from massive black holes at their centers.”

XRISM will be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on the H-IIA (H-2A) disposable launcher operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). It is expected to take at least three years.

Guainazzi explained that ESA’s observing 8% of XRISM’s current operating time will help bridge the gap between the space agency’s current XMM-Newton mission, which spent 24 years in space collecting X-ray data, and Athena, which is scheduled for a late launch. 2030s year

Seeing the extreme universe in X-rays

While astronomers have learned to see cosmic objects such as stars and galaxies that emit light associated with the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, these observations paint only part of the larger cosmic picture.

Space is also filled with electromagnetic radiation associated with low-energy infrared waves, as well as high-energy X-rays and gamma rays, which are perfectly collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Although these X-rays are invisible to our eyes, they are emitted by things like gas lurking among stars and galaxies, and from extreme and violent environments. Therefore, studying them can add important details to our cosmic fabric of the universe.

For example, one of the main functions of XRISM would be to study X-rays from the extremely hot massive shells of gas surrounding galaxy clusters, some of the largest structures in the known universe. This will help measure the gas envelopes of these clusters as well as their masses, allowing astronomers to better understand how these systems might have evolved.

Additionally, X-ray emission of gas shells can help astronomers determine how rich the shells are in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. These heavy elements are called “metals”.

Knowing the composition of metals is important because when the universe first began to fill itself with stars and galaxies, the only elements that existed in significant quantities were hydrogen and helium, along with tiny metal particles such as nitrogen. They were the first generation of stars to synthesize heavier elements by nuclear fusion of hydrogen and helium in their cores.

These heavy elements were then dispersed into space when the first stars exploded as supernovae at the end of their lives. This enriched the gas clouds surrounding the galaxies with metals. Later, when the denser portions of these clouds disintegrated to give birth to second-generation stars, they produced even more metal-rich stars.

XRISM will be able to measure the energy of high-energy X-ray photons or light particles using the Resolve tool. A future ESA Athena mission will include a similar device to report how Resolve works with XRISM.

Resolve will allow astronomers to measure the temperature and velocity of hot gases observed by the mission with high precision. Additionally, by mapping metals in these clouds using X-rays, XRISM can help scientists better determine how the star’s metal enrichment has progressed over the past 13.8 billion years of cosmic history. XRISM’s innovative X-ray research will also help physicists learn more about some fundamental cosmic phenomena. Source