Here’s What the Universe would Look like if You had X-Ray Vision like Superman

What if you had X-ray Vision?

According to NASA, if you had such vision, the night sky would seem like a strange and unfamiliar place since X-rays are about 1,000 times more energetic than visible light photons and are produced by violent explosions and high-temperature astronomical environments.

Instead of the familiar steady stars, NASA stated that the sky would seem to be filled with exotic stars, active galaxies, and hot supernova remnants.

And if you haven’t heard about it yet, just recently, an X-ray telescope was able to capture such images of the sky.

All-Sky Survey by the eROSITA X-ray Telescope

The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), on June 19, 2020, has published the first complete sky image captured by the eROSITA X-ray telescope after completing its course in 182 days.

According to the institution, the image from eROSITA is about four (4) times deeper than the previous all-sky survey which was done thirty (30) years ago with the ROSAT telescope.

“This all-sky image completely changes the way we look at the energetic universe. We see such a wealth of detail – the beauty of the images is really stunning.” 

– Peter Predehl, the Principal Investigator of eROSITA at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

Want to see the ‘sharp view of hot and energetic processes across the universe’ captured by the eROSITA X-ray telescope? Well, here it is!

Colour-coded image of the #eROSITA first all-sky survey conducted over a period of six months (red: 0.3-0.6 keV, green: 0.6-1 keV, blue: 1-2.3 keV). pic.twitter.com/eOgy6jnEKP

— eROSITA (@eROSITA_SRG) June 19, 2020

Know More About the eROSITA

The eROSITA telescope has been launched onboard the Russian-German “Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma” (SRG) spacecraft on July 13, 2019, and on June 11, 2020, it has completed its first survey of the entire X-ray sky.

According to the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, each point in the sky was exposed to the eROSITA telescope for an average duration of 150-200 seconds during its first all-sky survey. They also revealed that SRG will continue scanning the sky for three and a half years more.

MPE led the development and construction of the eROSITA X-ray instrument, with contributions from Dr. Karl Remeis Observatory Bamberg, the University of Hamburg Observatory, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), and the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Tübingen.

In addition, eROSITA’s development was also supported by DLR and the Max Planck Society. Other organizations that participated in the science preparation include the Argelander Institute for Astronomy of the University of Bonn and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich.

 

SOURCE

Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Press Release

Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Official Twitter Account

Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics eROSITA

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