The study of celestial bodies using their X-ray emission. X-ray astronomy deals
mainly with Galactic and extragalactic phenomena involving very high-energy
photon emissions, covering a band of energies between 0.1 keV and 500 keV.
The research field includes:
→ X-ray binaries,
→ cataclysmic variables,
→ pulsars,
→ black holes,
→ dark matter,
→ active galaxies,
→ galactic clusters
→ X-ray transients.
The Earth’s atmosphere absorbs most X-rays coming from outer space. X-ray astronomy
therefore requires observations to be done above atmosphere. The first rocket
flight which successfully detected a cosmic source of X-ray emission was launched
in 1962 by an American research group. A very bright source was detected that they named
→ Scorpius X-1.
Since then several dedicated X-ray astronomy satellites have been launched,
among which: Uhuru, INTEGRAL, ROSAT,
Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE),
→ Chandra X-ray Observatory, and
→ XMM-Newton, which have contributed to important advances
in astronomy.
See also: → X-ray; → astronomy.
