GSFC: NICER's Night Moves Trace the X-ray Sky

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bystander
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GSFC: NICER's Night Moves Trace the X-ray Sky

Post by bystander » Thu May 30, 2019 6:54 pm

NICER's Night Moves Trace the X-ray Sky
NASA | Goddard | NICER | 2019 May 30
nicernightmoveslabels-sm[1].jpg
This image of the whole sky shows 22 months of X-ray data recorded by NASA's Neutron
star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload aboard the International Space
Station during its nighttime slews between targets. Use the slider to identify prominent
sources. NICER frequently observes targets best suited to its core mission (“mass-
radius” pulsars) and those whose regular pulses are ideal for the Station Explorer for
X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT) experiment. One day they could form
the basis of a GPS-like system for navigating the solar system. (Credits: NASA/NICER)

Full-resolution images from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio
In this image, numerous sweeping arcs seem to congregate at various bright regions. You may wonder: What is being shown? Air traffic routes? Information moving around the global internet? Magnetic fields looping across active areas on the Sun?

In fact, this is a map of the entire sky in X-rays recorded by NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), a payload on the International Space Station. NICER’s primary science goals require that it target and track cosmic sources as the station orbits Earth every 93 minutes. But when the Sun sets and night falls on the orbital outpost, the NICER team keeps its detectors active while the payload slews from one target to another, which can occur up to eight times each orbit.

The map includes data from the first 22 months of NICER’s science operations. Each arc traces X-rays, as well as occasional strikes from energetic particles, captured during NICER’s night moves. The brightness of each point in the image is a result of these contributions as well as the time NICER has spent looking in that direction. A diffuse glow permeates the X-ray sky even far from bright sources. ...

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Astrophysical Journal Letters Focus Issue | Dec 2019

Early Results from the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)
Astrophysical Journal Letters Focus Issue | Mar - Jun 2018
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orin stepanek
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Re: GSFC: NICER's Night Moves Trace the X-ray Sky

Post by orin stepanek » Sat Jun 01, 2019 3:05 pm

Just amazing ! :shock:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

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