Skip to main content

See how beautiful the universe looks in the X-ray wavelength

Using the new eROSITA X-ray telescope, scientists have created the deepest-sever view of the sky as seen in the X-ray wavelength.

The image was created over a period of six months, during which the space-based telescope constantly rotated to image most of the sky. Each part of the sky had an exposure of 150 to 200 seconds, allowing an accuracy of measurement of photons of between 2% and 6%. The data was turned into a color-coded image to show the different energies of incoming photons.

The energetic universe
The energetic universe: To generate this image, in which the whole sky is projected onto an ellipse (so-called Aitoff projection) with the center of the Milky Way in the middle and the body of the galaxy running horizontally, photons have been color-coded according to their energy (red for energies 0.3-0.6 keV, green for 0.6-1 keV, blue for 1-2.3 keV). Jeremy Sanders, Hermann Brunner und das eSASS-Team (MPE); Eugene Churazov, Marat Gilfanov (im Namen von IKI)

The eROSITA telescope was launched last year, along with another X-ray telescope, ART-XC. ART-XC looks at high energy X-rays, while eROSITA looks at lower energy X-rays and is able to scan a huge area of the sky. That’s what allowed it to produce this extraordinary image.

Recommended Videos

“This all-sky image completely changes the way we look at the energetic universe,” Peter Predehl, the Principal Investigator of eROSITA at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), said in a statement. “We see such a wealth of detail — the beauty of the images is really stunning.”

The data for the image totaled more than 165 GB collected from seven cameras, which was put together to create this all-sky map. It pinpoints many new sources of X-rays, with a total of around one million objects, including objects such as supernova remnants, binary stars containing neutron stars, and black holes.

One such object which is close to Earth in relative terms and therefore a very bright source of X-rays is the beautiful Vela supernova remnant, a cloud of dust and gas left over from the explosion of a star 800 light-years away approximately 12,000 years ago.

Vela supernova remnant
Due to its size and close distance to Earth, the “Vela supernova remnant” which is shown in this picture is one of the most prominent objects in the X-ray sky. The objects marked Vela Junior and Puppis A are other, smaller supernova remnants. Peter Predehl, Werner Becker (MPE), Davide Mella

The value of the data isn’t just for its own sake though. It can only be combined with data from other sources in other wavelengths such as visible light or infrared to help scientists see more of the sky.

“We were all eagerly awaiting the first all-sky map from eROSITA,” said Mara Salvato, one of the scientists who worked on combining the eROSITA observations with data from other telescopes. “Large sky areas have already been covered at many other wavelengths, and now we have the X-ray data to match. We need these other surveys to identify the X-ray sources and understand their nature.”

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Watch SpaceX’s Starship splashdown in the Indian Ocean at end of fifth test
SpaceX's Starship reentering Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket was the star of the show during last week’s test flight when it was successfully caught by the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms upon the first attempt.

Minutes earlier, the Super Heavy booster had deployed the upper-stage Starship spacecraft to orbit as part of the fifth test flight of the world’s most powerful rocket.

Read more
SpaceX to top the Super Heavy catch with another astonishing feat
The Starship spacecraft.

SpaceX achieved a spectacular first on Sunday when it used a pair of giant mechanical arms to catch the 70-meter-tall Super Heavy booster just minutes after it deployed the Starship spacecraft to orbit in the vehicle’s fifth test flight.

But SpaceX isn’t stopping there. As part of its efforts to create a fully reusable spaceflight system for the Starship -- comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft -- SpaceX will attempt to catch not only the booster, but also the spacecraft.

Read more
SpaceX shares spectacular close-up footage of Starship launch and landing
The Starship launching from Starbase in October 2024.

SpaceX has shared footage, which you can watch below, showing a spectacular close-up view of the Starship’s launch and landing on Sunday.

The mission involved the fifth test flight of the Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and upper-stage Starship spacecraft.

Read more