X-rays in deep space return to main X-ray page

Many things in deep space give off X-rays. Many stars are in binary star systems - which means that two stars orbit each other. When one of these stars is a black hole or a neutron star, material is pulled off the normal star. This materials spirals into the black hole or neutron star and heats up to very high temperatures. When something is heated to over a million degrees, it will give off X-rays!

The above image is an artist's conception of a binary star system - it shows the material being pulled off the red star by its invisible black hole companion and into an orbiting disk.

Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO);
Optical (NASA/HST);
Radio: (CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA)

This image is special - it shows a supernova remnant - the remnant of a star that exploded in a nearby galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud. The false-colors show what this supernova remnant looks like in X-rays (in blue), visible light (green) and radio (red).

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO

This is the same supernova remnant but this image shows only X-ray

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X-rays in deep space return to main X-ray page