The vehicle made its way to space just two weeks ago

Jun 29, 2012 08:54 GMT  ·  By
NuSTAR takes its first snapshots of the highest-energy X-rays in the cosmos (lower right), producing images that are much crisper than previous high-energy telescopes did (example in upper right)
   NuSTAR takes its first snapshots of the highest-energy X-rays in the cosmos (lower right), producing images that are much crisper than previous high-energy telescopes did (example in upper right)

Using its unique ability to focus high-energy X-rays, the NASA Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission has just begun snapping images of the high-energy Universe. The instrument is already starting to produce science data, just a couple of weeks after launch.

The OSC Pegasus XL rocket that carried the telescope to space took off from underneath the L-1011 Stargazer aircraft while the latter was over the Pacific Ocean, on June 13. The aircraft took off from Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands

What makes this particular telescope different from other orbital X-ray observatories is the fact that it features two grazing incidence focusing optics, each of which consists of 133 concentric shells. This gives NuSTAR the ability to focus on a particular object; it is the only spacecraft capable of doing that.

Once orbital verification and testing processes are complete, the telescope will begin its study of some of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe, including supernova explosions and remnants, neutron stars, black holes and so on.

A lengthy mast enables the telescope to move its mirrors and detectors at various distances from the body of the telescope, which is why it can focus. The mast was deployed on June 21, and the procedure went on flawlessly.

“Today, we obtained the first-ever focused images of the high-energy X-ray Universe. It's like putting on a new pair of glasses and seeing aspects of the world around us clearly for the first time,” explains scientist Fiona Harrison.

She is the principal investigator of the NuSTAR mission, and holds an appointment at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. She was the first to conceive this telescope, more than 15 years ago.

The first target the NuSTAR science team selected is a black hole called Cygnus X-1, which is located inside the Milky Way, in a binary system. Its companion is a massive star, from which the dark behemoth continuously siphons material, and then converts it into strong X-ray radiations.

“This is a really exciting time for the team. We can already see the power of NuSTAR to crack open the high-energy X-ray universe and reveal secrets that were impossible to get at before,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) project scientist Daniel Stern concludes.