Suzaku: Intergalactic Prospector

  • Released Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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Recently astronomers used the Suzaku orbiting X-ray observatory, operated jointly by NASA and the Japanese space agency, to discover the largest known reservoir of rare metals in the universe. Suzaku detected the elements chromium and manganese while observing the central region of the Perseus galaxy cluster. The metallic atoms are part of the hot gas, or "intergalactic medium," that lies between galaxies. Exploding stars, or supernovas, forge the heavy elements. The supernovas also create vast outflows, called superwinds. These galactic gusts transport heavy elements into the intergalactic void.

Short, narrated video about the Suzaku metals discovery.

For complete transcript, click here.

For More Information

See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/astro-e2/news/intergalactic_metal.html

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Portions of this product included work done in cooperation with Space Telescope Science Institute.

This page was originally published on Wednesday, December 2, 2009.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:54 PM EDT.

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Tapes

This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • Suzaku: Intergalactic Prospector (ID: 2009123)
    Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 5:00AM
    Produced by - Robert Crippen (NASA)

Papers used in this visualization

http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1538-4357/705/1/L62/apjl_705_1_62.text.html

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