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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Newfound X-ray flashes might shed light on their own origins

Archival data reveals a trove of the mysterious phenomena known as fast X-ray transients.
Composite optical image of Centaurus A

The galaxy Centaurus A (composite image) hosts an object emitting short flashes of X-rays, according to scientists who trawled through data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Credit: European Southern Observatory/SPL

Astronomers have spotted a wealth of brief X-ray flashes coming from outside the Milky Way, nudging scientists closer to an understanding of these mysterious phenomena1.

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Nature 608, 453 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02110-2

References

  1. Quirola-Vásquez, J. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 663, A168 (2022).

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