Spectacular! Japan's XRISM satellite provides first glimpse into X-ray cosmos

XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) satellite, led by Japan in collaboration with NASA and ESA, has provided a first sneak peek into the X-ray cosmos. The XRISM, launched on September 6, 2023, presented a snapshot capturing a cluster of hundreds of galaxies and a spectrum of stellar wreckage in a neighbouring galaxy, unraveling the mysteries of their chemical makeup.

“XRISM will provide the international science community with a new glimpse of the hidden X-ray sky. We’ll not only see X-ray images of these sources but also study their compositions, motions, and physical states,” explained Richard Kelley, the US principal investigator for XRISM at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre.

The XRISM mission spearheaded by JAXA is designed to detect X-rays with energies up to 12,000 electron volts.

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This cutting-edge technology will scrutinise the universe’s hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity, offering insights beyond what visible light can provide.

The mission boasts two instruments, Resolve and Xtend, each playing a crucial role in unraveling the secrets of the cosmos.Using Resolve, the mission's team examined N132D, a supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The resulting spectrum showcased peaks associated with various elements, offering the most detailed X-ray spectrum of the object ever obtained.

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Brian Williams, NASA’s XRISM project scientist at Goddard, remarked, “Resolve will allow us to see the shapes of these lines in a way never possible before, letting us determine not only the abundances of the various elements present but also their temperatures, densities, and directions of motion at unprecedented levels of precision.”

Xtend, the second instrument, is an X-ray imager with a wide field of view. Capturing an X-ray image of Abell 2319, a rich galaxy cluster undergoing a major merger event, Xtend showcased its capability to observe areas 60 percent larger than the apparent size of the full moon.

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“Even before the end of the commissioning process, Resolve is already exceeding our expectations. Our goal was to achieve a spectral resolution of 7 electron volts with the instrument, but now that it’s in orbit, we’re achieving 5. What that means is we’ll get even more detailed chemical maps with each spectrum XRISM captures,” said Lillian Reichenthal, NASA’s XRISM project manager at Goddard.

(With inputs from agencies)