Japan's XRISM mission provides first glimpse of X-ray Universe

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released the first-glimpses of X-ray observation data of the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission's (XRISM) soft X-ray imager, Xtend, and soft X-ray spectrometer, Resolve.

The first test images show Galaxy cluster Abell 2319 - a system where two clusters of galaxies collide about 770 million light-years away in the northern constellation Cygnus - and supernova remnant N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy around 163,000 light-years away.

Resolve was used to study the supernova remnant while Xtend captured an X-ray image of Abell 2319.

Led by JAXA in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), XRISM launched on an H-IIA rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on September 6, 2023 (Sept. 7 in Japan). Designed to detect X-rays with energies up to 12,000 electron volts, the spacecraft will study the hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity in the Universe.

The spacecraft is currently in the commissioning phase, which will be completed by the end of January 2024. In February, the spacecraft will start calibrating the onboard instruments and demonstrating their capabilities.

"X-ray images of the cosmos are special. They look very different to the images we are used to seeing in visible and infrared light, such as those from the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes. The 'first light' observations demonstrate that the mission will play a big role in unveiling the evolution of the Universe and the structure of spacetime," the European Space Agency said on Friday.

How do you measure something that the human eye can't see?JAXA’s @XRISM_jp X-ray telescope has done just this in its 'first light' observations released today.XRISM’s images reveal a cluster of galaxies and a supernova remnant plus more hidden behind the Universe's hot gas. pic.twitter.com/91Fk91kXEa

— ESA (@esa) January 5, 2024