Kamis, 31 Mei 2012

The black hole hunter: New space telescope to use ultra-sharp X-Rays to hunt down the 'hidden treasures' of the night sky

The black hole hunter: New space telescope to use ultra-sharp X-Rays to hunt down the 'hidden treasures' of the night sky

By Rob Waugh

PUBLISHED: 11:43 EST, 31 May 2012 | UPDATED: 11:43 EST, 31 May 2012

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A new telescope is to offer deeper, crisper images of the sky - and will help Nasa hunt down 'hidden' objects such as black holes which could help unravel the mysteries of the universe.

The huge Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, NuSTAR X-Ray telescope is scheduled to launch from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean no earlier than June 13.

It's 100 times more sensitive than any previous telescope operating in the same energy range.

The huge Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, NuSTAR X-Ray telescope is scheduled to launch from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean no earlier than June 13

The huge Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, NuSTAR X-Ray telescope is scheduled to launch from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean no earlier than June 13

‘We will see the hottest, densest and most energetic objects with a fundamentally new high-energy X-ray telescope that can obtain much deeper and crisper images than before,’ said Fiona Harrison, NuSTAR’s principal investigator at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who first conceived of the mission 20 years ago.

The telescope will have more than 10 times the resolution, and more than 100 times the sensitivity, of its predecessors operating in a similar energy range.

‘Planning observations with NuSTAR is like being a kid in a candy store,’ says Kaspi, ‘black holes, neutron stars, supernovae -- these are amazing objects that we’ll soon see in an entirely new way.’

NuSTAR will be the first space telescope to create focused images of cosmic X-rays with the highest energies

The telescope will have more than 10 times the resolution, and more than 100 times the sensitivity, of its predecessors operating in a similar energy range

The telescope will have more than 10 times the resolution, and more than 100 times the sensitivity, of its predecessors operating in a similar energy range




Studying black holes that are big and small, far and near, NuSTAR will endeavor to answer questions about the formation and physics behind these wonders of the cosmos. The observatory will also investigate how exploding stars forge the elements that make up planets and people, and it will even study our own Sun’s atmosphere.


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