XRISM: Exploring the Hidden X-ray Cosmos | NASA Goddard

XRISM: Exploring the Hidden X-ray Cosmos | NASA Goddard

Watch this video to learn more about the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA. This new satellite aims to pry apart high-energy light into the equivalent of an X-ray rainbow using an instrument called Resolve.

“Resolve will give us a new look into some of the universe’s most energetic objects, including black holes, clusters of galaxies, and the aftermath of stellar explosions,” said Richard Kelley, NASA’s XRISM principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’ll learn more about how they behave and what they’re made of using the data the mission collects after launch.”

Resolve measures tiny temperature changes created when an X-ray hits its 6-by-6-pixel detector. To measure that minuscule increase and determine the X-ray’s energy, the detector needs to cool down to around minus 460 Fahrenheit (minus 270 Celsius), just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero.

The mission’s other instrument, developed by JAXA, is called Xtend. It will give XRISM one of the largest fields of view of any X-ray imaging satellite flown to date, observing an area about 60% larger than the average apparent size of the full Moon.

XRISM is a collaborative mission between JAXA and NASA, with participation by ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s contribution includes science participation from the Canadian Space Agency.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio 

Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Lead Producer

Jeanette Kazmierczak (University of Maryland College Park): Lead Writer

Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBRwyle): Lead Animator

Scott Wiessinger (KBRwyle): Animator

Rob Andreoli (AIMM): Videographer

Harrison Bach (Intern): Videographer

John D. Philyaw (AIMM: Videographer

Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support

Francois Mernier (University of Maryland College Park): Research Astrophysicist

Takashi Okajima (GSFC): Research Astrophysicist

Duration: 6 minutes, 23 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 25, 2023

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