A European Space Agency telescope celebrated 20 years of exploring the secrets of the X-ray universe this week.
The XMM-Newton (opens in new tab) telescope, which launched on Dec. 10, 1999, has made contributions in various fields of science and astronomy, and has observed objects ranging from galaxy clusters (opens in new tab) to star flares (opens in new tab). But in a press release celebrating the anniversary, scientists zeroed in on the observatory's black hole discoveries.
Black holes (opens in new tab) are areas in space that are so dense that no other object can escape their pull after passing beyond a point of no return known as the "event horizon." Even light can't escape, which means the black holes can't be seen. But when black holes munch on nearby gas, dust or objects, they produce a distinctive glow that can be mapped out in X-rays.
Video: XMM-Newton Space Observatory at 20 - Highlights (opens in new tab)
Related: Our Galaxy's Heart Glows in Psychedelic X-Ray Light (opens in new tab)
Although XMM-Newton can't see black holes directly — in fact, the first-ever image of a black hole was just produced this year using data from the Event Horizon Telescope (opens in new tab), a collaboration of observatories from around the world (that does not include XMM-Newton).
What XMM-Newton is good at is seeing X-rays produced by iron molecules. These molecules are heated to high temperatures and ionized, or stripped of their electrons, on their death plunge toward the black hole.
The observatory has made several discoveries in the field of supermassive black holes, which are thousands of times the mass of the sun and which tend to be embedded in galaxies. XMM-Newton made a key find using iron molecules in a supermassive black hole (opens in new tab) in 2013.
"The X-rays given out from the iron contain information about the geometry and dynamics of the black hole," ESA said in a statement (opens in new tab). "XMM-Newton was used to measure such emission in order to study the rotation rate of the supermassive black hole at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 1365."
XMM-Newton also spotted flashes from a black hole embedded in the galaxy GSN 069, emanating about once every nine hours. "These eruptions are thought to be coming from the matter caught in the black hole’s gravitational grip, or from a less massive black hole circling the more massive one," ESA said in the statement.
XMM-Newton is still working well, and the observatory will focus on supermassive black holes and the galaxies in which they are hosted in the coming years.
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