HIGH ENERGY-
Juiy4, 1051. Chinese
3
urt astrmornem re-
~rtedswing a "guest
rr" in the constellation
m.It remained bril-
mt for six months and.
3 of threl
lld be se
.ight. Nm
. . rne
/dyecrrs Imer, rL
French comet huntt
harles Messier. re
1845. observed ti 1 b J
rudge, drew its strange
ape, ancf describled it i mainta:
A wew or me ~ r a o
fa in vls~bleirght
nt oblect ar the cc
s been ~denit!ied
Isar and 1s thoug .-
.a.
the remialns of !I te
grnol sta r, zild hrJS
. . . ved as a pulsar
en c~bser
an vrsible Ilghf, rudk
WCrves. X.rc
rnma raj
ing like a ''crab.'
.. - . ..
we knoww this ob
I.
ject as tne u r a 6 ~ e 6 u i a
t!le remains of a giant
star that exploded more
than 5.000 years ago.
Most stars in :he uni-
wrm are rematrkably
constar~ t &cat
.
--
a n old, masswe
iianally
! star
reaches a stage when it
nuclear fuel ha!s been ..
nearly depleted and the
delicate balance betw
internal pressure and
gravity holding the st
- outer lavers continurs *A
d, .
toaether crm no lonu
e star sud-
spew in!g
and enengrtlic pcnti-
I
.
million! .
.' s o..f miles into
ce. wnlie tts necr
nents collapse in
se core. For a fei
S. or e w n severa
mor~ths,the star-now
known as a supernova-
.--
s h i1-~ britliantly, brigh-
rer perhaps than all "-
other stars in its gal
combined. ft may ev
seen in the daylight.
Eventually, the glow of
the supernova fades. The
g a s and dust of the :star's
I expand ihrough spa#
pic!ting up c>the1inte
ILord Ros se'sdraa
I I
rhe Crab Nebula.
n material a s ti
i
outwurd.
The remnants bt u a=-
pernova consist t>I this
expanding cosmi.c debris
a blast wave of emergy
2. --I
that expands witnL xr, una
the compact remains of
the former star a t its core
Sometimes t h ~ core
s is
detected as a neutron
star or pulsar-that is, a
rapidly spinning object
whose macmetic field is
so stronsI that raidiation
can escarpe only along
I
e.X-ray
&. . i
 ,ghthe s
rriy distx
across the nlght sky,in
fact, material in the uni-
verse is clumped together
in great, uneven masses.
Our own Sun, for examI-
pie, is but o n e of a bill ion
to the Milky Way galaxy..
others bound f:by gravi t*Y
Billions of other p l a x i e s
are scattered throughout
I he X-ray contours of the
9
rrgs clusrer are st
space, and many in turn
are grouped rn great
xed on a vlsrble clusters and superclus..
$oto of !our g a l a ters each containing m sy-
le same iield. where from a half dozen
?ral hum$red gal4ax-
le Milky Way gal1-
to the deepest
z visible lig1.t
&Vera[ clusters,,A,! wavelengths. in oddit ior
discovered to emit X-rays to charting these rnassiv
by both the Small Astron- conglomerations--th
omy Sateilite a n d the largest aggregates
British X-ray satellit'e. matter known to ex
More recentiy. lnstrlu- the observations a r e
ments on the first High
Energy Astronwmy C>b- -
helping to reveal the
tory of thew formation. b
ser EAO 1, found is still rlot known if the
those cluste!rs containing clusters formed directly
. .
a supergiarrt elliptical
gal'axy naa most of *hail
..-a..
from vn st dust clouds at
an early stage of the uni-
X-rrcry emission assat i - verse. or if later. alter the
ated with that gala, CY. galaxies themselves
Tht!second observatow formed, they were some-
l ha: ;observexi X-ray:
C~Y sters
' at (listance!
hcw bor2nd together by
gravitat ionai prcxesses.
rant clusters range frc
the broad and highjv -I
clttmped amissions of gal-
CLX'iessuch as A 136;? fbot-

. . and
to1n)to..the smooth (

centraliy peaked er
srons of A 85 (tcp/.'
first type,thought tt
an early stage of el
tion. tends to be TICh In
spiral galax~esand low in
both X-ray impera,tures
and velocity dispersrc
The second type is ol
wtth few sprais, higl
temperatures and hrg
own gab
ned to a
vmse, regions of the WAO 2s X-ray teies;cope
were selected which found 43 X - m y objects.

magtrout n i th scores af
ray sources. These rcl

at a dark, unspedacu r umbers of previ-

fn t wa such sunreys. raes of cosmic evolution.

LWU~UI. 3-2-73 *,rr

3
r r\
x !.?y
...-
f tht> pre3
%7?3i*>'i 11
r wirrz u
tt"rz~ rra~ishrfr

a n y . The nlc-sf cl1~1.111:

 peratures of 10 mt
degrees. A? t h m

trom h m e i elements
whtcfr ma1 be major con-

then k o m t ?a untque
means of probfny the
temperatures. densrty ,

enerqy rn the sky.

X-ray spectra. The Crys- tems ianglng from he!

la1 Sptrtrornetet is cr>m- stars, through btnarg sg
i parable lo ar.upt~cal ! terns conta~tlrnqw h ~ t e
f prtsnl tn that the wave- ! dwarts, neutron stars or
' lenaths ~I-CI~OTS' ot X-rav black holes. to tht* yttc
!lg6t ate sty.mratd and
s t u d 1 4 rncitvrdilaliy Thc
Solrd stat.^ Sprr.trontett*~
1s capable of rnr~asurrtq
: !hr cnttte spctrum at
! once The two spcctromc.
i ters camplement mch
i other 1x1 wns~ttvltpa ~ l d
I energy resaltrtton
i &fore NFAO 2. c.tnly
siircon and Iron Ilnr
i emasston hrd bt.C*11 tdcnti
j t i t 4 in X-ray s p x f r c r .
; Now. rn tht* sw.ctra of at
ftrrst a half a Jatcxn su-
s pernova ttxmnarli, t h ~ r
z
n ~ a cmtssio.*
i ; nt-s aris
rttg from fit!;hly ~ ~ t n ~ z t c ! as would cxir.~ri-drf
states of nlrxynrsium, strl the X-rcvs were* nc.11-rtrct ,
 The Slvahr11word for

"off"at intervals con-

nt wzth rate ot rotatlon

most cumplere stare

A Br~tishX ray sotei

ent even photons