The Russian ART-XC telescope aboard the Spektr-RG space observatory has begun an early science program. During the first scan of the central βthickenβ of the Milky Way galaxy, a new X-ray source was detected, called SRGA J174956-34086.
Over the entire period of observation, mankind has discovered about a million sources of X-rays, and only dozens of them have their own names. In most cases, they are called uniformly, and the name of the observatory that discovered the source becomes the basis of the name. After the discovery of a new source, scientists will have to continue research that will help determine its nature. The source can be a distant quasar or a star system located in relative proximity with a neutron star or a black hole.
To accurately localize the object, scientists observed the radiation source from another telescope. The Neil Gerels Swift Observatory X-ray telescope, which has the best angular resolution, was used. The source of radiation in soft X-rays turned out to be dimmer than in hard X-rays. This happens if the radiation source is located behind clouds of interstellar gas and dust.
In the future, scientists will try to obtain optical spectra that will determine the nature of the detected X-ray source. If this fails, then ART-XC will continue to survey the area in order to search for fainter objects. Despite the amount of work ahead, it is noted that the Russian ART-XC telescope has already left its mark on the catalogs of X-ray sources.
Source: 3dnews.ru