The launch Monday of a Japanese X-ray space telescope comes on the heels of the remarkable advances made in this relatively young field of astronomy which focuses on the most violent energy in the universe.

The U.S.' Chandra space telescope and a sister telescope, the X-ray Multi-Mirror Observatory that was launched by the European Space Agency, promise to revolutionize a field which for decades has suffered from a lack of sophisticated instruments.

For more than 300 years, ever since Galileo pointed a newfangled instrument called the telescope at the nighttime sky, astronomers came to understand the workings of the universe by the visible light it emitted.

X-ray Observation

Europeans Give New X-ray Telescope A Rave Review: The European Space Agency (ESA) is raving about the performance of its new X-ray observatory,the X-ray Multi-Mirror. The X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM), the most sensitive instrument for detecting X-rays in space, is perfectly responsive to ground control commands, according to the ESA. XMM was launched on December 10.

Chandra: What's at Stake: The 50,000 pound Chandra X-Ray Observatory, launched during shuttle mission STS 93, should contribute immensely to ourunderstanding of the origins of the universe and the workings of black holes.

But shortly after World War 2, when astronomers at last acquired the technology to detect additional electromagnetic "colors," such as radio waves, infrared waves, and X-rays, the heavens underwent a complete renovation. Once considered a tranquil abode, the cosmos has been transformed into a realm of extraordinary vigor and violence.

Nowhere is this seen more vividly than in X-ray images of the celestial sky, especially the latest pictures offered by the Chandra X-ray Observatory -- the crown jewel of X-ray telescopes launched by NASA last July. Already these images are providing new insights on stellar birth and death, as well as the emergence of galaxies in the early universe.

"Since the data has been coming back, nearly every observation contains a surprise," said Stephen Murray of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "We're in a new age of discovery because our capability has jumped so dramatically." Chandra sees the X-ray universe 10 times more sharply than previous X-ray telescopes. "We've at last put our glasses on," said Murray.

Cosmic mystery

For many, Chandra's greatest triumph so far, after only six months in orbit, has been its resolution of a long-term cosmic mystery. Nearly 40 years ago, when the first X-ray detectors were lofted into space; researchers detected a faint background of X-rays over the entire celestial sky.

Unlike the more well known microwave background, discovered accidentally by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson around 1965, the X-ray background had never been predicted by theorists, coming as a complete surprise when first seen by detectors rocketed into space in the early 1960s. Theorists then started to speculate on its origin.

"There was this diffuse glow everywhere you looked," said Richard Mushotzky, an X-ray astronomer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Chandra resolved that glow into specific points of X-ray radiation. "We found the right number of objects with the right properties," said Mushotzky, a member of the observing team. "The question is -- what are these objects?"

We've at last put our glasses on.

A large portion of these sources, tens of millions peppered throughout the sky, are believed to be the most remote galaxies ever identified, perhaps up to 14 billion light-years distant, and previously hidden from optical telescopes by intervening dust and gas.

The highly energetic X-rays, which can pierce the dusty fog, may have been generated as some of the abundant gas in each infant galaxy was sucked at near the speed of light into a super-massive black hole -- an active quasar -- situated at the galaxy's center.

If this scenario is confirmed (optical observations from the ground are underway), it would add to the growing body of evidence that every major galaxy was once a brilliant quasar in its youth.

Looking into the heart of the Milky Way, Chandra directly spied the two million-solar-mass black hole that resides in our own galactic core.

"But every answer brings a new question," said Murray. The Milky Way's quasar fossil is glowing in X-rays even more faintly than expected. Perhaps it's because our older galaxy has lower supplies of gas there for the super-massive black hole to "eat." Or it might indicate that theorists need to revise their thinking on how a black-hole engine works.

Chandra's greatest strength is its ability to unveil once hidden sources -- and not just in the far universe. Looking at the famous Orion nebula some 1,500 light-years distant, the largest star-forming region close to Earth, Chandra revealed a bevy of newborn X-ray-emitting stars that promises to help astronomers better understand the process of star formation. Thousands in number, a surprisingly rich cache, some of these X-ray stars in Orion are far more massive than the sun; others are quite small and likely to evolve into tiny brown dwarf stars.

X-ray astronomy is vital in studying stellar deaths as well as births. By examining supernova remnants -- the debris hurled into space by the explosion of massive stars -- X-ray astronomers get to see "what was cooked up in the stellar furnace," said Claude Canizares of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a principal investigator on Chandra. The shock wave heats the gases to nearly 10 million degrees Celsius, so the bulk of the material can be studied only in X-rays, not in visible light.

What they see are the elements necessary for life. Looking at a remnant called E0102-72 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, Canizares and his colleagues estimate that the oxygen alone from the exploded star equals the mass of 10 of our suns. These atomic ashes are carried outward, like surfers on a wave, providing the raw material for future stars and planets.

Chandra cannot do this job alone, though, said Canizares. Other space-based X-ray instruments, such as the XMM launched last December, as well as the new Japanese-U.S. Astro E, offer unique strengths. The XMM has more collecting area than previous telescopes, while the Astro E will be particularly good in gathering high-energy X-rays. "All of these instruments are needed to get a complete picture," says Canizares.

Marcia Bartusiak is the author of Thursday's Universe and Through a Universe Darkly. Her latest book, Einstein's Unfinished Symphony, will be published this fall.