The Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAS) presented some of the first images transmitted to Earth from the Spektr-RG observatory.
The Spektr-RG project, we recall, is aimed at studying the Universe in the X-ray wavelength range. The observatory carries on board two oblique-incidence X-ray telescopes - the Russian ART-XC instrument and the German-made eRosita instrument.
The successful launch of the observatory took place on July 13 this year. Now the device is located at the Lagrange point L2, from where it surveys the entire sky in the scanning mode.
The first image shows an overview of the central region of our galaxy by the ART-XC telescope in a hard energy range. The area of ββthe image is 40 square degrees. Circles indicate X-ray sources. Among them - a few dozen previously unknown; perhaps these are accreting binary systems with a neutron star or a black hole.
The second image shows the Coma cluster of galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices. The image was taken by the ART-XC telescope in the hard X-ray range 4β12 keV. Concentric circles represent areas of very low surface brightness. The third shot is the same cluster of galaxies, but through the βeyesβ of eRosita.
The fourth image is an x-ray map of a portion of the galactic disk (the "Galactic Ridge") taken by the eRosita telescope. Numerous X-ray sources located in our galaxy, as well as those located at large distances from us and observed "through transmission" are recorded here.
Finally, the last image shows the "Lockman hole" - a unique region in the sky, where the absorption of X-rays by the interstellar medium of our galaxy reaches its minimum value. This makes it possible to study distant quasars and galaxy clusters with record sensitivity.
Source: 3dnews.ru