Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Integral’s first look at the gamma-ray Universe

ESA’s gamma-ray satellite, Integral, is fully operational. Today Integral’s first ground-breaking images of the high-energy Universe were presented in Paris, France. Astronomers call such initial observations ’first-light’ images.

The high-energy Universe is a violent place of exploding stars and their collapsed remnants such as the ultra-compressed neutron stars and, at the most extreme, all-consuming black holes. These celestial objects create X-rays and gamma rays that are many times more powerful than the optical radiation we can see with our eyes and optical telescopes. Integral’s Principal Investigators – the scientists responsible for the instruments on board - explain the crucial role that high-energy missions like Integral play in astronomy. “X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy is a pathfinder to unusual objects. At optical wavelengths, the number of stars is staggering. At X-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths, there are fewer objects, but the ones that remain are the really peculiar ones.”

As a first test, Integral observed the Cygnus region of the sky, looking particularly at that enigmatic object, Cygnus X-1. Since the 1960s, we have known this object to be a constant generator of high-energy radiation. Most scientists believe that Cygnus X-1 is the site of a black hole, containing around five times the mass of our Sun and devouring a nearby star. Observing Cygnus X-1, which is relatively close by in our own Galaxy - ’only’ 10 000 light years from us - is a very important step towards understanding black holes. This will also help understand the monstrous black hole - three million times the mass of our Sun - at the centre of our Galaxy.

Dr Arvind Parmar | alfa
Further information:
http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESADW18708D_Expanding_0.html

Im Focus: Manipulating Electron Spins Without Loss of Information

Physicists have developed a new technique that uses electrical voltages to control the electron spin on a chip. The newly-developed method provides protection from spin decay, meaning that the contained information can be maintained and transmitted over comparatively large distances, as has been demonstrated by a team from the University of Basel’s Department of Physics and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute. The results have been published in Physical Review X.

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Im Focus: On the way to a biological alternative

A bacterial enzyme enables reactions that open up alternatives to key industrial chemical processes

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Im Focus: The 1 trillion tonne iceberg

Larsen C Ice Shelf rift finally breaks through

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Im Focus: Laser-cooled ions contribute to better understanding of friction

Physics supports biology: Researchers from PTB have developed a model system to investigate friction phenomena with atomic precision

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