Space
NASA Discovers Mysterious Explosion In The Universe That Leaves Scientists Puzzled
Sam D
First Posted: Apr 04, 2017 04:52 AM EDT
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered a strange cosmic explosion in a distant area of the universe. Astronomers are not quite sure where the peculiar burst of bright X-rays came from.
According to a recent Spacecom report, the explosion -- called CDF-S XT1 -- was detected in an area known as the Chandra Deep Field South in October 2014. According to a statement from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the telescope images showed that the flash of X-rays became 1,000 times brighter over the next few hours and dramatically faded out in about a day.
"Ever since detecting this source, we have been struggling to comprehend its origin," said Franz Bauer, researcher at Santiago’s Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. “It is like we have a jigsaw puzzle but we do not have all of the pieces."
Though astronomers have still not been able to pinpoint the exact source of the mysterious explosion, data from the archives of NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes suggest that the burst could have taken place in a small, faint galaxy located around 10.7 billion light-years away from the planet Earth. A suggestion has also been forwarded that the X-rays could have resulted from a gamma-ray burst.
However, according to scientist Ezequiel Treister, none of the proposed ideas fit the data perfectly. But Treister also added that, scientists have rarely, if at all, seen any of the suggested possibilities in actual data. Therefore, the researchers do not understand them well at all.
According to another scientist, Kevin Schawinski, the cosmic explosion could be an absolutely new type of cataclysmic event. He further added that whatever the peculiar burst of bright X-rays is, a lot more study is required to understand the phenomenon. In the meantime, the details of the discovery and its study can be found on ArXiv.org. The findings will be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society’s June 2017 issue.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
TagsNASA, NASA Chandra Observatory, Cosmic Explosion, X-rays Burst, CDF-S XT1, Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
More on SCIENCEwr
First Posted: Apr 04, 2017 04:52 AM EDT
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered a strange cosmic explosion in a distant area of the universe. Astronomers are not quite sure where the peculiar burst of bright X-rays came from.
According to a recent Spacecom report, the explosion -- called CDF-S XT1 -- was detected in an area known as the Chandra Deep Field South in October 2014. According to a statement from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the telescope images showed that the flash of X-rays became 1,000 times brighter over the next few hours and dramatically faded out in about a day.
"Ever since detecting this source, we have been struggling to comprehend its origin," said Franz Bauer, researcher at Santiago’s Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. “It is like we have a jigsaw puzzle but we do not have all of the pieces."
Though astronomers have still not been able to pinpoint the exact source of the mysterious explosion, data from the archives of NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes suggest that the burst could have taken place in a small, faint galaxy located around 10.7 billion light-years away from the planet Earth. A suggestion has also been forwarded that the X-rays could have resulted from a gamma-ray burst.
However, according to scientist Ezequiel Treister, none of the proposed ideas fit the data perfectly. But Treister also added that, scientists have rarely, if at all, seen any of the suggested possibilities in actual data. Therefore, the researchers do not understand them well at all.
According to another scientist, Kevin Schawinski, the cosmic explosion could be an absolutely new type of cataclysmic event. He further added that whatever the peculiar burst of bright X-rays is, a lot more study is required to understand the phenomenon. In the meantime, the details of the discovery and its study can be found on ArXiv.org. The findings will be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society’s June 2017 issue.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone