Tag: Black holes
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Coronavirus work stoppage likely to delay launch of NASA X-ray astronomy mission
Artist’s concept of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Credit: NASA A nearly three-month stoppage of on-site work due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus at NASA’s Marshall Space Fight Center in Alabama is expected to push back the launch of the IXPE X-ray astronomy satellite from May 2021 until some time later next…
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Black hole or neutron star? Gravitational waves bring a cosmic conundrum to light
An artist’s conception shows the imminent merger of two mismatched black holes. The mystery object involved in the merger detected last year might have been an unexpectedly small black hole or an unexpectedly large neutron star. (Credit: N. Fischer, S. Ossokine, H. Pfeiffer, A. Buonanno / Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics / Simulating eXtreme…
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A double whammy of gravitational waves sparks a burst of black hole speculation
Artwork shows the merger of two black holes, which gives off a burst of gravitational waves. (SXS Graphic) Two detections of gravitational waves, separated by a mere 21 minutes, set off a flurry of excitement among astronomers today. Was it a binary black-hole merger? A double observation of a single black-hole merger, created by gravitational…
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Has LIGO detected its first smash-up of black hole and neutron star? Stay tuned
An artist’s conception shows a neutron star swirling around a black hole. (OzGrav ARC Centre of Excellence Illustration via Australian National University / Carl Knox) The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, has detected mergers of black holes, and even a couple of neutron star smash-ups. But it hasn’t yet confirmed the signature of a…
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Russia launches international X-ray astronomy mission
A Proton rocket and Block DM upper stage climbed into space Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Spektr-RG, an astronomical observatory with dual X-ray telescopes developed by Russian and German scientists on the hunt for the signature of dark energy. The new observatory will detect X-ray emissions from across the sky, including those…
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Live coverage: Proton rocket lifts off with X-ray astronomy observatory
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Proton rocket with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. The live video webcast from Roscosmos will begin at approximately 1130 GMT (7:30 a.m. EDT) on launch day, and will be available…
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Proton launch delayed to Saturday
The Proton rocket stands on its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, awaiting liftoff with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy mission. Credit: Roscosmos Russian officials have delayed until Saturday the launch of a Proton rocket from Kazakhstan with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy observatory, an ambitious mission jointly developed with Germany to probe dark energy.…
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Proton rocket and astronomy satellite back on the launch pad after battery replacement
Poised to loft a Russian-German X-ray astronomy observatory into space Friday, a Proton rocket returned to its launch pad Tuesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after a three-week delay to replace a drained battery on the vehicle. The Proton rocket departed its assembly building at Baikonur early Tuesday and rode a specialized rail car…
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SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch X-ray telescope on reused rocket
File photo of a Falcon 9 launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — flying with a reused first stage booster — to launch the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in…
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Russia postpones launch of X-ray astronomy mission
The Proton rocket with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy mission will return to an assembly building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome for troubleshooting ahead of another launch attempt as soon as July 12. Credit: Roscosmos Russian officials postponed the planned launch of a Proton rocket with an X-ray astronomy satellite Friday until no earlier than July 12…