XMM-Newton – Astronomy Now

XMM-Newton’s view of the Crescent Nebula

10 December 2017 Astronomy Now

A young massive star that began life around 25 times more massive than our own Sun is shedding shells of material and fast winds to create this dynamic scene captured by ESA’s XMM-Newton.

The dynamic duo: Jupiter’s independently pulsating X-ray aurorae

10 November 2017 Astronomy Now

Jupiter’s intense northern and southern lights, or aurorae, behave independently of each other according to a new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray and ESA’s XMM-Newton observatories.

X-rays reveal temperament of possible planet-hosting stars

6 September 2017 Astronomy Now

A new X-ray study has revealed that stars like the Sun and their less massive cousins calm down surprisingly quickly after a turbulent youth. This result has positive implications for the long-term habitability of planets orbiting such stars.

Rapid changes point to origin of ultra-fast black hole winds

3 March 2017 Stephen Clark

ESA and NASA space telescopes have made the most detailed observation of an ultra-fast wind flowing from the vicinity of a black hole at nearly a quarter of the speed of light.

The brightest, farthest pulsar in the universe

22 February 2017 Stephen Clark

ESA’s XMM-Newton has found a pulsar – the spinning remains of a once-massive star – that is a thousand times brighter than previously thought possible.

Mind the gap: ‘Rapid Burster’ behaviour explained

7 February 2017 Stephen Clark

Scientists observing a curious neutron star in a binary system known as the ‘Rapid Burster’ may have solved a forty-year-old mystery surrounding its puzzling X-ray bursts. They discovered that its magnetic field creates a gap around the star, largely preventing it from feeding on matter from its stellar companion.

Black hole meal sets record for duration and size

6 February 2017 Stephen Clark

A giant black hole ripped apart a star and then gorged on its remains for about a decade, according to astronomers. This is more than 10 times longer than any observed episode of a star’s death by black hole.

Hubble reveals galaxy gas flow and star birth regulated by black-hole jets

10 August 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have uncovered a unique process for how the universe’s largest elliptical galaxies continue making stars long after their peak years of star birth. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope revealed brilliant knots and chains of hot, blue stars forming along the jets of active black holes found in the centres of giant elliptical galaxies.

Space telescopes measure speed and shape of ultra-fast quasar winds

20 February 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using NASA and ESA X-ray space telescopes discover that PDS 456, an extremely bright black hole known as a quasar more than 2 billion light-years away, sustains winds that carry more energy every second than is emitted by more than a trillion suns.