November 15, 2024

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X-ray image of the universe reveals nearly a million high-energy objects: 'These are staggering numbers'

X-ray image of the universe reveals nearly a million high-energy objects: 'These are staggering numbers'

The first data released to the public from the eROSITA sky survey includes an X-ray image of half the sky above Earth, including nearly a million high-energy cosmic sources, including more than 700,000 supermassive black holes.

This catalogue, called the “eROSITA All-Sky Survey Catalog (eRASS1),” was published on Thursday (February 1). It constitutes the largest catalog ever of the most powerful energy sources in the universe, such as exploding massive stars and active galactic nuclei powered by black holes that shine brightly in X-rays. The release also details the largest known structures in the universe, the threads of the cosmic web of hot gas that connect galaxies in clusters.