Andromeda galaxy pops up ultraluminous X-ray sources
Monday, February 27, 2012 - 09:31
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, Swift Gamma-ray Burst Explorer and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton Observatory have been studying an object known as an ultraluminous X-ray source -- ULX, for short -- in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy (M31). Scientists have long debated the nature of these super-bright X-ray sources, and Chandra's 2009 discovery of a nearby ULX in Andromeda sparked intense interest.