NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Engineering Technicians John Hood, Amy Meekham, and Mark Sloan discuss details of their work on the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. A joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer …
On 9/6/23, Marshall’s Chandra X-ray Observatory team supported the “Education Day” game for the Rocket City Trash Pandas, Huntsville’s minor league baseball team. The team shared information about Chandra and high energy astrophysics and handed out Chandra bookmarks and activity …
Marshall Chandra Team Supports Trash Panda’s “Education Day” Game Read More »
Glowbug has reported detections of four gamma-ray bursts via the General Coordinates Network. Glowbug is a NASA-funded gamma-ray telescope that is operating on the International Space Station. Glowbug is operated by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory with ground data analysis …
First Gamma-ray Burst Detections with Glowbug Reported to the Community Read More »
On 10/9/22, the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) detected the brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen. National Geographic interviewed GBM graduate student Stephen Lesage (UAH), who was on GBM burst advocate duty when the burst occurred, GBM team member Eric Burns …
National Geographic Article About the Brightest Gamma-ray Burst of all Time Read More »
Daniel Kocevski (ST12), Stephen Lesage (UAH), and Sarah Dalessi (UAH) presented invited talks at a conference held in Warrington, VA on behalf of Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC’s) Relativistic Astrophysics Team. Kocevski presented on the status of the StarBurst and …
On 8/25/23, the Astrophysical Journal published online “IXPE and XMM-Newton Observations of the Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 1806-20” by Roberto Turolla al. On 9/1/23, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society published online “The X-ray polarization of the Seyfert 1 …
Latest Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Discovery Papers and News Read More »
Katherine Stevenson-Chavis, Chief of the Astrophysics Branch at MSFC, attended the Alabama A & M State University’s (HBCU) distinguished 23rd Putcha Venkateswarlu Annual Memorial Lecture on Friday, September 15, 2023. Venkateswarly was a physics professor who supervised over 50 PhD …
Public Outreach at Alabama A & M State University Read More »
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton and other telescopes, astronomers have determined that a giant black hole, 290 million light-years away, has destroyed a large star and strewn its contents into space. This event, a “tidal disruption event,” or …
Chandra: A Giant Black hole Destroys a Massive Star Read More »
From 7/31-8/3/23, Stephen Bongiorno (ST12) traveled to ReliaCoat Technologies (RcT) in Bohemia, NY with collaborator Suzanne Romaine (SAO) to supervise plasma thermal spray coating of an X-ray optic for the Merging Technologies project. For this project, the ART-XC M20 mandrel …
Launched in 1999, the Chandra X-ray Observatory began its 25th year in orbit on July 23, 2023. Originally a 3 year mission (with a 5 year goal), continuous engineering and science efforts are ongoing to ensure Chandra’s longevity. Largest among …
