In September 2023, the joint Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) telescope launched into low-Earth orbit atop a Japanese H-IIA rocket. Since then, the X-ray telescope has undergone a commissioning phase and officially begun performing scientific observations on the universe’s structure, outflows from galaxy nuclei, dark matter, and more.
One of XRISM’s first targets were black holes and supernova remnants. During these observations, the telescope collected data on the environments surrounding these objects, which allowed scientists to investigate the structure, motion, and temperature of the material surrounding these objects. The team of scientists recently presented their results, which are also the first scientific results from XRISM to be published, to the public.