Weekly - Scientists find cosmic ring of galaxies and more

Weekly Space News - Quick and Easy

Scientists find cosmic ring of galaxies

Last week, scientists discovered a massive ring of galaxies and galaxy clusters about 9.2 billion light-years away from Earth. The structure called the ‘Big Ring’ is so big that it has a total circumference of 4 billion light-years. Another fascinating find is that this huge ring was found in the same neighbourhood as another similar massive structure called the ‘Giant Arc’ which like the name suggests, is a massive arc made of galaxies. Scientists are not yet completely clear about how these two massive structures may have formed.

China launches its new Einstein Probe

Last week China launched its latest X-ray satellite called the ‘Einstein Probe’ into space. The probe is an X-ray observatory that will be used to study cosmic objects that shine brightly in X-ray light. What makes this probe special is that it is shaped and designed like a blooming lotus, with each of its 12 ‘petals’ consisting of a wide-field X-ray telescope (WXT), and 2 stamens in the centre consisting of a follow-up X-ray telescope (FXT). This unique structure helps the probe monitor a wide area of the sky and spot new X-ray events as soon as they occur.

XPoSat captures its first image

Last week, India's XPoSat satellite achieved a milestone by capturing its first image—the captivating Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant located 11,000 light-years away from the earth. Launched on January 1, XPoSat is India’s first-ever X-ray polarimetric mission, designed to unravel cosmic X-ray mysteries. This success is not only a major milestone for ISRO in X-ray astronomy but also for the entire world.