ISS Instrument Detects X-ray Nova

By Nancy Atkinson - October 4, 2010 at 12:37 PM UTC | Stars
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An instrument on board the International Space Station has discovered an X-ray nova. The science team from the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) instrument on the Exposed Facility of the Japanese Kibo reported a short-lived X-ray nova became visible in the constellation of Ophiuchus on September 25, 2010, and the MAXI team confirmed that it was an uncatalogued X-ray source. Astronomers say the outburst is likely to be from a binary system with a black hole. The nova was named "MAXI J1659-152, in honor of the MAXI instrument.

X-ray novas appear suddenly in the sky and dramatically increases in strength over a period of a few days and then decreases, with an overall lifetime of a few months. Sometimes, these elusive novas have an optical counterpart. Unlike a conventional nova, in which the compact component is a white dwarf, an X-ray nova may be caused by material falling onto a neutron star or a black hole.

ESA's INTEGRAL gamma-ray observatory also detected hard X-ray emission from the same position, and NASA's Swift Observatory also was alerted by the flare-up. Following the discovery, many other astronomical observatories around the world have made follow-up observations in X-ray, gamma-ray, visible, infrared, and radio wavelengths. This discovery was led by Prof. Hitoshi Nego, a member of the MAXI team.

Source:

JAXA

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com