Portal:Radiation astronomy/Lesson/20

First X-ray source in Aquarius

Main resource: First X-ray source in Aquarius

The blue (X-ray) shows evidence for a growing super massive black hole in the centre of the galaxy. Credit: Left panel: D. Alexander et al. S. Chapman et al. T. Hayashino et al. J. Geach et al. Right Illustration: M. Weiss.

The first X-ray source in Aquarius is unknown. The field of X-ray astronomy is the result of observations and theories about X-ray sources detected in the sky above. The first astronomical X-ray source discovered may have been the Sun. But, X-rays from the Sun do not penetrate far enough into Earth's atmosphere to be detected on the ground. The early use of sounding rockets and balloons to carry detectors high enough may have detected X-rays from the Sun as early as the 1940s.

This is a lesson in map reading, coordinate matching, and researching. It is also a research project in the history of X-ray astronomy looking for the first astronomical X-ray source discovered in the constellation of Aquarius.

Nearly all the background you need to participate and learn by doing you've probably already been introduced to at a secondary level.

Some of the material and information is at the college or university level, and as you progress in finding X-ray sources, you'll run into concepts and experimental tests that are actual research.

To succeed in finding an X-ray source in Aquarius is the first step. Next, you'll need to determine the time stamp of its discovery and compare it with any that have already been found. Over the history of X-ray astronomy a number of sources have been found, many as point sources in the night sky. These points are located on the celestial sphere using coordinate systems. Familiarity with these coordinate systems is not a prerequisite. Here the challenge is geometrical, astrophysical, and historical.