What will XRISM do?<\/strong><\/h2> XRISM’s key instrument, called Resolve, has been tasked with observing x-ray data from some of the hottest objects found in space, including black holes<\/a> and galaxy clusters<\/a>.<\/p> In order to do this, the Resolve instrument has to be kept incredibly cold: just a few hundredths of a degree warmer than absolute zero Kelvin.<\/p>
That’s 20 times colder than the Boomerang Nebula<\/a>, which is the coldest natural place in the Universe.<\/p>\n![\"XRISM](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/xrism-mirror-assembly-scaled.jpeg?fit=800%2C534\")
XRISM team member Yang Soong of the University of Maryland, College Park, with the completed mirror elements for an X-ray Mirror Assembly developed for the JAXA\/NASA XRISM mission. Credit: Taylor Mickal\/NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nXRISM’s Resolve instrument<\/strong><\/h2> The reason the Resolve instrument has to be kept so cold is because it needs to detect tiny temperature increases caused by x-rays from deep space.<\/p>
The instrument will collect this information thereby building up data revealing how bright a particular source is in various x-ray energies.<\/p>
Astronomers can then use these x-ray spectra to identify chemical elements in each source.<\/p>
This is done via the process of spectroscopy<\/a>, much like a prism splitting white optical light into its constituent colours.<\/p> As a result, XRISM will be able to reveal the ‘fingerprints’ of chemical elements in the collect data.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2023\/08\/XRISM_spacecraft_in_thermal_vacuum_test_room-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C534\")
The XRISM spacecraft in a space environment test room at the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center, August 2022. The chamber simulates the temperatures and vacuum the spacecraft will encounter in space. Credit: JAXA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cWith current instruments, we\u2019re only capable of seeing these fingerprints in a comparatively blurry way,\u201d said Brian Williams, NASA\u2019s XRISM project scientist at Goddard.<\/p>
\u201cResolve will effectively give X-ray astrophysics a spectrometer with a magnifying glass.\u201d<\/p>
Through this technique, XRISM is expected to shed light on exploding stars (supernovae<\/a>), black holes and their host galaxies, and galaxy clusters.<\/p> XRISM’s other instrument, known as Xtend, will give the spacecraft one of the largest fields of view of any x-ray space telescope to date.<\/p>
It will observe a region of the sky equivalent to about 60% larger than the average apparent size of the full Moon.<\/p>
In order to do this, the Resolve instrument has to be kept incredibly cold: just a few hundredths of a degree warmer than absolute zero Kelvin.<\/p>
That’s 20 times colder than the Boomerang Nebula<\/a>, which is the coldest natural place in the Universe.<\/p>\n The reason the Resolve instrument has to be kept so cold is because it needs to detect tiny temperature increases caused by x-rays from deep space.<\/p> The instrument will collect this information thereby building up data revealing how bright a particular source is in various x-ray energies.<\/p> Astronomers can then use these x-ray spectra to identify chemical elements in each source.<\/p> This is done via the process of spectroscopy<\/a>, much like a prism splitting white optical light into its constituent colours.<\/p> As a result, XRISM will be able to reveal the ‘fingerprints’ of chemical elements in the collect data.<\/p>\n \u201cWith current instruments, we\u2019re only capable of seeing these fingerprints in a comparatively blurry way,\u201d said Brian Williams, NASA\u2019s XRISM project scientist at Goddard.<\/p> \u201cResolve will effectively give X-ray astrophysics a spectrometer with a magnifying glass.\u201d<\/p> Through this technique, XRISM is expected to shed light on exploding stars (supernovae<\/a>), black holes and their host galaxies, and galaxy clusters.<\/p> XRISM’s other instrument, known as Xtend, will give the spacecraft one of the largest fields of view of any x-ray space telescope to date.<\/p> It will observe a region of the sky equivalent to about 60% larger than the average apparent size of the full Moon.<\/p> XRISM’s Resolve instrument<\/strong><\/h2>