Suzaku Stories

X-ray Echoes of a Shredded Star Provide Close-up of ‘Killer’ Black Hole

5 min read

Some 3.9 billion years ago in the heart of a distant galaxy, the intense tidal pull of a monster black hole shredded a star that passed too close. When X-rays produced in this event first reached Earth on March 28,…

Article8 years ago

Suzaku Finds Common Chemical Makeup at Largest Cosmic Scales

5 min read

A new survey of hot, X-ray-emitting gas in the Virgo galaxy cluster shows that the elements needed to make stars, planets and people were evenly distributed across millions of light-years early in cosmic history, more than 10 billion years ago.…

Article9 years ago

Suzaku Studies Supernova ‘Crime Scene,’ Shows a Single White Dwarf to Blame

4 min read

Using archival data from the Japan-led Suzaku X-ray satellite, astronomers have determined the pre-explosion mass of a white dwarf star that blew up thousands of years ago. The measurement strongly suggests the explosion involved only a single white dwarf, ruling…

Article9 years ago