X-ray astronomy is the research area focused on detecting, imaging, and spectroscopically analyzing cosmic sources of X-ray photons, typically in the energy range of ~0.1–100 keV. Because Earth’s atmosphere is opaque to X-rays, this field relies on space-based observatories employing grazing-incidence optics, focusing telescopes, and high-resolution detectors such as CCDs, microcalorimeters, and proportional counters. X-ray astronomy probes high-energy astrophysical processes, including accretion onto compact objects, hot intracluster gas, supernova remnants, stellar coronae, and relativistic jets, enabling quantitative studies of extreme environments, plasma conditions, strong gravity, and energetic feedback in galaxies and large-scale structure.
The hunt is over. After more than 50 years of searching, astrophysicists at Northwestern University have finally discovered evidence of a powerful wind blowing from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius ...
Astronomy
6 hours ago
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An international team led by astronomers at the University of Sydney has uncovered the clearest evidence yet for the origin of an unusual class of cosmic signals. In doing so, they have identified a rare stellar system that ...
Astronomy
Jun 1, 2026
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Astronomers from the George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, DC, and elsewhere have employed NASA's Chandra X-ray spacecraft to observe a pulsar wind nebula inside a supernova remnant known as CTA 1. Results of ...
Look closely at this image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and you'll see galaxies of various shapes and sizes clustered together toward the center-left of the image. A few foreground stars shine brightly and are easily ...
Astronomy
May 22, 2026
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Astronomers have identified a possible new member of one of astronomy's strangest classes of objects: Odd radio circles (ORCs), enormous ring-like structures visible only at radio wavelengths. The newly discovered source, ...
Astronomers have tracked a dramatic "changing-look" active galactic nucleus (AGN) whose central supermassive black hole appeared to switch off and then rapidly reignite. The galaxy, HE 1237−2252, dimmed in X-rays by a factor ...
An international team of researchers has developed new stellar and supernova models to explain the mysterious elemental abundance patterns left by billions of supernova explosions around the Perseus constellation, which have ...
Astronomy
May 14, 2026
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The galaxy cluster Abell 2029 is sometimes described as "the most relaxed cluster in the universe." This moniker does not arise from some sort of mellow vibe, but rather because of how calm and undisturbed the superheated ...
Astronomy
May 12, 2026
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Astronomers have employed the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) and the MeerKAT radio telescope to observe a galaxy cluster known as RXCJ0232–4420. Results of the new observations, published April 29 on the ...
Using various telescopes, an international team of astronomers has performed multi-wavelength observations of a recently identified gamma-ray burst source designated GRB 250416C. Results of the observational campaign, published ...
