News

Changes in a Neutron Star Binary Accretion Disk during Outburst

May 15th, 2020

Astronomers are observing the changes in the accretion disk around the neutron star X-ray binary 4U 1608-52. The system was tracked as it fades from outburst to quiescence by three NASA space telescopes, with NuSTAR observations suggesting that the disk puffs up and becomes transparent as the outburst fades.

Found: Three Black Holes on Collision Course

September 26th, 2019

Astronomers have spotted three giant black holes within a titanic collision of three galaxies. The unusual system was captured by several observatories, including three NASA space telescopes.

NASA Satellite Spots a Mystery That's Gone in a Flash

September 4th, 2019

NASA's NuSTAR X-ray observatory saw a flash of light that could be produced only by an extremely energetic event. Scientists are investigating what could have caused the flare.

Black Hole Image Makes History

April 10th, 2019

A black hole and its shadow have been captured in an image for the first time, a historic feat by an international network of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). EHT is an international collaboration whose support in the U.S. includes the National Science Foundation.

In Colliding Galaxies, a Pipsqueak Shines Bright

February 20th, 2019

In the nearby Whirlpool galaxy and its companion galaxy, M51b, two supermassive black holes heat up and devour surrounding material. These two monsters should be the most luminous X-ray sources in sight, but a new study using observations from NASA's NuSTAR mission shows that a much smaller object is competing with the two behemoths.

Holy Cow! Mysterious Blast Studied with NASA Telescopes

January 10th, 2019

A brief and unusual flash spotted in the night sky on June 16, 2018, puzzled astronomers and astrophysicists across the globe. The event - called AT2018cow and nicknamed "the Cow" after the coincidental final letters in its official name - is unlike any celestial outburst ever seen before, prompting multiple theories about its source.

NASA's NuSTAR Mission Proves Superstar Eta Carinae Shoots Cosmic Rays

July 3rd, 2018

A new study using data from NASA's NuSTAR space telescope suggests that Eta Carinae, the most luminous and massive stellar system within 10,000 light-years of Earth, is accelerating particles to high energies - some of which may reach our planet as cosmic rays.

Beaming with the Light of Millions of Suns

February 26th, 2018

A Caltech-led astronomy team is homing in on the nature of extreme objects known as ultraluminous X-ray sources.

NuSTAR Probes Black Hole Jet Mystery

October 30th, 2017

Black holes are famous for being ravenous eaters, but they do not eat everything that falls toward them. A small portion of material gets shot back out in powerful jets of hot gas, called plasma, that can wreak havoc on their surroundings. Along the way, this plasma somehow gets energized enough to strongly radiate light, forming two bright columns along the black hole's axis of rotation. Scientists have long debated where and how this happens in the jet.

Merging Galaxies Have Enshrouded Black Holes

May 9th, 2017

Black holes get a bad rap in popular culture for swallowing everything in their environments. In reality, stars, gas and dust can orbit black holes for long periods of time, until a major disruption pushes the material in.

NuSTAR Probes Puzzling Galaxy Merger

March 27th, 2017

A supermassive black hole inside a tiny galaxy is challenging scientists' ideas about what happens when two galaxies become one. Thanks to NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission, scientists have discovered that the dwarf galaxy is so luminous in high-energy X-rays, it must host a supermassive black hole much larger and more powerful than expected.

Andromeda's Bright X-Ray Mystery Solved by NuSTAR

March 23rd, 2017

The Milky Way's close neighbor, Andromeda, features a dominant source of high-energy X-ray emission, but its identity was mysterious until now. As reported in a new study, NASA's NuSTAR mission has pinpointed an object responsible for this high-energy radiation.

Temperature Swings of Black Hole Winds Measured for First Time

March 1st, 2017

For the first time, scientists have measured rapidly varying temperatures in hot gas emanating from around a black hole. These ultrafast "winds" are created by disks of matter surrounding black holes.

NuSTAR Helps Find Universe's Brightest Pulsars

February 28th, 2017

There's a new record holder for brightest pulsar ever found -- and astronomers are still trying to figure out how it can shine so brightly. It's now part of a small group of mysterious bright pulsars that are challenging astronomers to rethink how pulsars accumulate, or accrete, material.

NuSTAR Helps Solve 'Rapid Burster' Mystery

January 31st, 2017

Scientists observing a neutron star in the "Rapid Burster" system may have solved a 40-year-old mystery surrounding its puzzling X-ray bursts.

NuSTAR Finds New Clues to 'Chameleon Supernova'

January 24th, 2017

"We're made of star stuff," astronomer Carl Sagan famously said. Nuclear reactions that happened in ancient stars generated much of the material that makes up our bodies, our planet and our solar system. When stars explode in violent deaths called supernovae, those newly formed elements escape and spread out in the universe.

Black Holes Hide in Our Cosmic Backyard

January 7th, 2017

Monster black holes sometimes lurk behind gas and dust, hiding from the gaze of most telescopes. But they give themselves away when material they feed on emits high-energy X-rays that NASA's NuSTAR mission can detect. That's how NuSTAR recently identified two gas-enshrouded supermassive black holes, located at the centers of nearby galaxies.

Star Explosion is Lopsided, Finds NASA's NuSTAR

May 7th, 2015

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has found evidence that a massive star exploded in a lopsided fashion, sending ejected material flying in one direction and the core of the star in the other.

Strong Evidence For Coronal Heating Theory Presented at 2015 TESS Meeting

April 30th, 2015

The sun's surface is blisteringly hot at 10,340 degrees Fahrenheit -- but its atmosphere is another 300 times hotter. This has led to an enduring mystery for those who study the sun: What heats the atmosphere to such extreme temperatures? Normally when you move away from a hot source the environment gets cooler, but some mechanism is clearly at work in the solar atmosphere, the corona, to bring the temperatures up so high.

NASA's NuSTAR Captures Possible 'Screams' from Zombie Stars

April 29th, 2015

Peering into the heart of the Milky Way galaxy, NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array has spotted a mysterious glow of high-energy X-rays that, according to scientists, could be the "howls" of dead stars as they feed on stellar companions.

NASA, ESA Telescopes Give Shape to Furious Black Hole Winds

February 19th, 2015

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescope are showing that fierce winds from a supermassive black hole blow outward in all directions -- a phenomenon that had been suspected, but difficult to prove until now.

Will the Real Monster Black Hole Please Stand Up?

January 8th, 2015

A new high-energy X-ray image from NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has pinpointed the true monster of a galactic mashup. The image shows two colliding galaxies, collectively called Arp 299, located 134 million light-years away. Each of the galaxies has a supermassive black hole at its heart.

NASA X-ray Telescopes Find Black Hole May Be a Neutrino Factory

November 13th, 2014

The giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way may be producing mysterious particles called neutrinos. If confirmed, this would be the first time that scientists have traced neutrinos back to a black hole. The evidence for this came from three NASA satellites that observe in X-ray light: the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Swift gamma-ray mission, and the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array.

NASA's NuSTAR Telescope Discovers Shockingly Bright Dead Star

October 8th, 2014

Astronomers have found a pulsating, dead star beaming with the energy of about 10 million suns. This is the brightest pulsar - a dense stellar remnant left over from a supernova explosion - ever recorded. The discovery was made with NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR.

NuSTAR Guest Observer Program announced

August 26th, 2014

Announcement of opportunity to propose for NuSTAR observations - cycle 1.

NASA's NuSTAR Sees Rare Blurring of Black Hole Light

August 12th, 2014

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) has captured an extreme and rare event in the regions immediately surrounding a supermassive black hole. A compact source of X-rays that sits near the black hole, called the corona, has moved closer to the black hole over a period of just days.

NuSTAR Approved for Extended Mission

May 22nd, 2014

The 2014 NASA astrophysics division senior review panel has ranked NuSTAR second among the nine operating missions that were considered for extended operations. NASA has responded to the independent panels recommendations by approving continued operations through 2016 including the implementation of a Guest Observer Program that will begin in 2015. Details about the program will be available this summer.

NASA's NuSTAR Untangles Mystery of How Stars Explode

February 19th, 2014

One of the biggest mysteries in astronomy, how stars blow up in supernova explosions, is being unraveled with the help of NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array.

Dead Star and Distant Black Holes Dazzle in X-Rays

January 9th, 2014

New images from NASA's NuSTAR highlight a spinning, dead star and black holes blanketed in dust.

Do Black Holes Come in Size Medium?

November 26th, 2013

In the stockroom of our cosmos, black holes come in size small and large. NASA's NuSTAR is helping to find our more about why medium-sized black holes are missing.
Displaying entries 31 - 60 of 92 in total