Collaboration Across Cultures Global Astronomy: Collaboration Across Cultures
Apr 10, 2013

Suzaku ‘Post-mortem’ Yields Insight into Kepler’s Supernova

An exploding star observed in 1604 by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler held a greater fraction of heavy elements than the sun, according to an analysis of X-ray observations from the Japan-led Suzaku satellite. The findings will help astronomers better understand the diversity of type Ia supernovae, an important class of stellar explosion used in probing the distant universe.


Aug 02, 2012

‘Cry’ of a Shredded Star Heralds a New Era for Testing Relativity

Last year, astronomers discovered a quiescent black hole in a distant galaxy that erupted after shredding and consuming a passing star. Now researchers have identified a distinctive X-ray signal observed in the days following the outburst that comes from matter on the verge of falling into the black hole.


Jul 03, 2012

In McNeil’s Nebula, a Young Star Flaunts its X-ray Spots

Using combined data from a trio of orbiting X-ray telescopes, including NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Japan-led Suzaku satellite, astronomers have obtained a rare glimpse of the powerful phenomena that accompany a still-forming star. A new study based on these observations indicates that intense magnetic fields drive torrents of gas into the stellar surface, where they heat large areas to millions of degrees. X-rays emitted by these hot spots betray the newborn star’s rapid rotation.


Mar 24, 2011

Suzaku Shows Clearest Picture Yet of Perseus Galaxy Cluster

X-ray observations made by the Suzaku observatory provide the clearest picture to date of the size, mass and chemical content of a nearby cluster of galaxies. The study also provides the first direct evidence that million-degree gas clouds are tightly gathered in the cluster’s outskirts


Dec 30, 2009

Suzaku Finds “Fossil” Fireballs from Supernovae

Suzaku studies of supernovae have revealed never-before-seen embers of the high-temperature fireballs that immediately followed the explosions. Even after thousands of years, gas within these stellar wrecks retain the imprint of temperatures 10,000 times hotter than the Sun’s surface.


Dec 10, 2009

Suzaku Catches Retreat of a Black Hole’s Disk

Studies of one of the galaxy’s most active black-hole binaries reveal a dramatic change that will help scientists better understand how these systems expel fast-moving particle jets.


Dec 08, 2009

Suzaku Spies Treasure Trove of Intergalactic Metal

The most abundant elements in our Universe are hydrogen and helium, but these cosmic lightweights fill only two spots on the periodic table. Recently astronomers discovered the largest known reservoir of rare metals in the Universe.


May 28, 2009

Suzaku Snaps First Complete X-ray View of a Galaxy Cluster

The joint Japan-U.S. Suzaku mission is providing new insight into how assemblages of thousands of galaxies pull themselves together. For the first time, Suzaku has detected X-ray-emitting gas at a cluster’s outskirts, where a billion-year plunge to the center begins.


Jan 02, 2008

White Dwarf Pulses Like a Pulsar

New observations from Suzaku, a joint Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA X-ray observatory, have challenged scientists' conventional understanding of white dwarfs. Observers had believed white dwarfs were inert stellar corpses that slowly cool and fade away, but the new data tell a completely different story. At least one white dwarf, known as AE… Continue reading »


Oct 09, 2007

Major Step Toward Knowing Origin of Cosmic Rays

Recent observations from NASA and Japanese X-ray observatories have helped clarify one of the long-standing mysteries in astronomy – the origin of cosmic rays. Outer space is a vast shooting gallery of cosmic rays. Discovered in 1912, cosmic rays are not actually rays at all; they are subatomic particles and ions (such as protons and… Continue reading »


Aug 27, 2007

Astronomers Pioneer New Method For Probing Exotic Matter

Using European and Japanese/NASA X-ray satellites, astronomers have seen Einstein's predicted distortion of space-time around three neutron stars, and in doing so they have pioneered a groundbreaking technique for determining the properties of these ultradense objects. An artist depicts a disk of hot gas whipping around a neutron star. The gas in the inner part… Continue reading »


Jul 30, 2007

Japanese and NASA Satellites Unveil New Type of Active Galaxy

An international team of astronomers using NASA's Swift satellite and the Japanese/U.S. Suzaku X-ray observatory has discovered a new class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). By now, you'd think that astronomers would have found all the different classes of AGN — extraordinarily energetic cores of galaxies powered by accreting supermassive black holes. AGN such as… Continue reading »


Oct 05, 2006

Scientists Nudge Closer to the Edge of a Black Hole

NASA scientists and their international partners using the new Japanese Suzaku satellite have collected a startling new set of black hole observations, revealing details of twisted space and warped time never before seen with such precision. The observations include clocking the speed of a black hole’s spin rate and measuring the angle at which matter… Continue reading »


Jul 12, 2005

NASA Telescope Launched on Japanese Space Observatory

The launch of the Suzaku satellite on July 10, 2005 from the Uchinoura Space Center in southern Japan. A pioneering X-ray detector, developed jointly by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was successfully launched on a major new… Continue reading »