Amazing XMM-Newton Space Observatory

XMM-Newton Space Observatory

Artist's impression of XMM-NEWTON in orbit. (Image courtesy XMM-NEWTON)

The XMM-Newton Space Observatory

The XMM-Newton Space Observatory (X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission - Newton) is a highly sensitive space observatory launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). It is the largest scientific satellite built in Europe and serves as the flagship of European X-ray astronomy.

Key Details

Launch Date: December 10, 1999
Orbit: The XMM-Newton Space Observatory has a highly elliptical 48-hour orbit around Earth, reaching up to 114,000 km at its farthest point to allow for long, uninterrupted observations.
Design: The XMM-Newton Space Observatory consists of three large, advanced X-ray telescopes utilizing 58 nested, highly polished mirrors each, alongside an optical/UV telescope.
Naming: Originally named the X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM) mission, the XMM-Newton Space Observatory was renamed in honor of Sir Isaac Newton to recognize his foundational contributions to optics, spectroscopy, and gravity.

Scientific Purpose

Because Earth's atmosphere blocks X-rays, this observatory operates in space to study the "hot" and extreme Universe. It is primarily used to investigate:

Enigmatic phenomena like black holes and neutron stars.
The formation of galaxies in the early Universe.
The life cycle of stars and stellar explosions.
Targets within our own Solar System, such as planets and comets.

Explore the mission's latest discoveries and operational data through the NASA Science XMM-Newton page or the ESA XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre.

Despite being launched at the end of the last century with an initial 10-year design life, the XMM-Newton satellite remains in excellent health.

Current XMM-Newton Space Observatory Status and Extensions

Approved Operations: The European Space Agency has approved operations through December 2026, with a strong indication of an extension through 2029.
Observation Schedule: The mission is actively executing its 25th cycle of scientific observations (AO-25), scheduled to run from May 2026 until April 2027.
High Demand: It remains a critical tool for global astrophysics. The latest proposal call in late 2025 was oversubscribed by a factor of 8.6, meaning scientists requested nearly nine times more observing time than was physically available.

Why Has the XMM-Newton Space Observatory Lasted So Long?

Resource Longevity: Technically, the observatory has enough onboard resources—such as fuel and electrical power—to continue working until 2034 or beyond.
Smart Engineering: In 2013, engineers reprogrammed the satellite's attitude control system to use a backup reaction wheel. This "4-wheel drive mode" successfully cut its day-to-day fuel consumption by more than half.
Data Continuity: ESA plans to keep the spacecraft running smoothly until its massive next-generation successor mission, New Athena, launches in the mid-2030s.

Who Uses XMM-Newton Space Observatory?

Over 5,000 international researchers and astrophysicists actively use the XMM-Newton observatory. Because it is an open-access facility, any astronomer worldwide can submit a proposal to use it. Its highly sensitive instruments have studied more than half a million X-ray sources, leading to over 6,000 published scientific papers.

Global Astrophysicists: Scientists tracking extreme cosmic physics, such as gravitational forces around black holes or the debris of exploding stars.
Cosmologists: Researchers analyzing how large structures in the Universe, like galaxy clusters, formed and evolved after the Big Bang.
Planetary Scientists: Astronomers studying objects inside our own Solar System, including the atmospheres of Mars and Jupiter.
University Students: Undergraduate and postgraduate researchers analyzing real-time data or the massive 25-year public data archive.

The XMM-Newton Space Observatory's Chief Discoveries

XMM-Newton has profoundly reshaped our understanding of the high-energy Universe through several landmark discoveries:

Measuring Black Hole Spin: Working with NASA's NuSTAR telescope, XMM-Newton made the first-ever measurement of a supermassive black hole's rotation speed (spin rate) by analyzing how its gravity warps emitted X-rays.
Mapping Black Hole Echoes: It captured X-ray "echoes" bouncing off gas clouds behind a supermassive black hole. This allowed scientists to construct the first 3D map of a black hole’s immediate surroundings.
Finding "Missing" Matter: It detected a hot, diffuse web of gas stretching between galaxies. This critical discovery helped solve the long-standing "missing baryon problem"—a gap in the cosmic budget of normal, physical matter.
Probing Neutron Star Interiors: By finding exceptionally young neutron stars that were unexpectedly cold, it allowed scientists to reject several leading theories about the ultra-dense state of matter inside these stellar corpses.
Discovering Record-Breaking Galaxy Clusters: It successfully located massive, ancient galaxy clusters—such as XMMXCS 2215-1738—lying over 10 billion light-years away from Earth.
Solving Planetary Mysteries: It provided the first detailed insights into the mechanism that triggers Jupiter's powerful X-ray auroral flares.
Challenging Star Physics: It captured a massive “super flare” on a star with only 8% of our Sun's mass, proving that ultra-small stars can produce high-energy eruptions once thought to be impossible. How XMM-Newton captures X-rays

Unlike traditional optical telescopes that reflect light straight back, the XMM-Newton space observatory uses a technique called grazing incidence to capture X-rays. Because X-rays are so high-energy, hitting a standard mirror head-on would cause them to pass right through it or get absorbed. To catch them, the mirrors must be positioned almost parallel to the incoming light, allowing the X-rays to skip off the surface like stones skimming across water.

XMM-Newton Space Observatory Design: 174 Gold-Coated Mirrors

Close-up of the XMM-Newton telescope mirrors

Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0

To gather enough faint X-rays from deep space, the XMM-Newton space observatory relies on three identical Mirror Assemblies.

Nested Shells: Each assembly contains 58 individual mirror shells nested inside one another like Russian dolls.
Precision Fit: The gaps between the shells are as small as 1 mm to maximize the surface area available to catch light.
Gold Coating: Every mirror is made of ultra-thin nickel and coated with a layer of gold just 1/200,000 of a millimeter thick, which is highly reflective to X-rays.

How X-Ray Light Travels Through Each Telescope

The First Bounce (Paraboloid): Incoming X-rays enter the front of the telescope and strike the upper, paraboloid-shaped section of a mirror shell at an angle of less than 1 degree.
The Second Bounce (Hyperboloid): The skimmed X-rays travel down to the lower, hyperboloid-shaped section of the shell for a second precise reflection.
The Focal Point: This double-bounce design focuses the scattered X-rays down a 7.5-metre-long tube, concentrating them onto the sensitive cameras and instruments at the back of the spacecraft.

By nesting 58 mirrors together in three separate telescopes, the XMM-Newton space observatory achieves a total collecting area equivalent to a single mirror nearly 1.4 meters wide, making it arguably one of the best cosmic X-ray detectors ever built.

The XMM-Newton Space Observatory Cameras

German image showing the parts of the XMM-Newton space observatory. The camera set-ups are at the bottom

At the end of XMM-Newton's 7.5-metre-long mirror tubes sits the EPIC (European Photon Imaging Camera) system. It consists of three highly sensitive cameras designed to detect and measure individual X-ray photons with incredible precision.

As glass prisms cannot split light at X-ray frequencies, XMM-Newton telescope cameras use advanced physics to simultaneously capture images, measure the X-ray energies, and record the exact arrival time of every single photon.

The EPIC-pn Camera

Located at the end of the first mirror tube, the EPIC-pn is the powerhouse of the XMM-Newton space observatory.

The Tech: It uses a custom-designed PN-junction Charge-Coupled Device (CCD), an advanced variant of the sensor found in digital cameras.
The Role: It is optimized for high-speed detection and for handling the highest-energy X-rays.
Why it matters: It can record rapidly changing cosmic events—like a black hole devouring matter—with a time resolution of a fraction of a millisecond.

The Twin EPIC-MOS Cameras

The remaining two mirror tubes feed into two identical EPIC-MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor) cameras.

The Tech: These use a different type of CCD sensor that features smaller pixels.
The Role: They provide the highest-resolution images of the three cameras, capturing the sharpest structural details of distant galaxy clusters and supernova remnants.
The Twist: They only receive about 44% of the incoming light. The rest of the light is diverted mid-way down the tube by a reflection grating to power a separate instrument called the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS).

How The Cameras Work Together

All three EPIC cameras operate at ultra-cold temperatures (around -90°C to -120°C) to eliminate electronic noise. When an X-ray photon strikes a pixel on any of these sensors, it creates a small cloud of electrical charge. The camera measures the charge to calculate:

Where the photon came from (Image)
How energetic it is (Spectrum)
When it hit the sensor (Time)

The Reflection Grating Spectrometer

The Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) is the XMM-Newton space observatory’s high-resolution “prism.” While the EPIC cameras take great pictures, the RGS is built to split X-ray light into its individual wavelengths. This allows scientists to read the chemical fingerprints of the hottest objects in the Universe.

How the X-Radiation is Split

The RGS does not sit at the very end of the telescope tube—it intercepts the light halfway down.

The Grating Assembly: Inside the two mirror tubes leading to the MOS cameras, engineers placed an array of 200 ultra-thin reflection gratings.
The Split: These gratings act like an angled Venetian blind. They let about 44% of the X-rays pass straight through to the MOS cameras for imaging. The remaining 56% hits the gratings and then reflects at precise angles depending on the wavelength.
The RGS Detectors: This redirected, split light is focused onto a separate strip of nine specialized CCD cameras mounted on the side of the telescope structure.

XMM-Newton Space Observatory's View of Messier 31’s Core

The following couple of X-ray images of the Andromeda Galaxy's nucleus were acquired in June and December 2000 with the XMM-Newton space observatory's EPIC-MOS camera. The newly discovered X-ray Nova XMMU J004234.1+411808 and a transient supersoft X-ray pulsating source are marked by red and yellow circles, respectively. (Image credit: S. Trudolyubov):

XMM Newton's view of M31's nucleus in June 2000

XMM Newton's view of M31's nucleus in December 2000

What the Reflection Grating Spectrometer Measures

By spreading the X-radiation out into a wide spectrum, the RGS acts like a cosmic thermometer and chemical analyzer. It excels at observing lower-energy ("soft") X-rays, which carry vital information about:

Chemical Elements: It identifies the exact amounts of ionized oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, neon, and iron floating in space.
Extreme Temperatures: It measures gas temperatures ranging from 1 million to 10 million degrees K.
Cosmic Velocity: By measuring how X-ray wavelengths are lengthened or shortened due to the Doppler effect, the RGS figures out how fast gas/plasma is moving or rotating.

Amazing! The XMM-Newton Space Observatory Finds Missing Intergalactic Material

After a nearly twenty-year-long game of cosmic hide-and-seek, astronomers using the XMM-Newton space observatory have found evidence of hot, diffuse 'gas' permeating the cosmos, closing a 'puzzling' gap in the overall budget of ‘normal’ matter in the Universe.

More about this claim

The XMM-Newton Space Observatory Optical Monitor

The XMM-Newton Optical Monitor (XMM-OM) is a dedicated 30 cm optical and ultraviolet telescope mounted alongside the three X-ray telescopes. It gives the observatory a unique ability to simultaneously observe cosmic objects in both high-energy X-rays and lower-energy visible and ultraviolet wavelengths.

Why Simultaneous Viewing Matters

Before the XMM-Newton space observatory, astronomers had to coordinate observations between different space and ground telescopes to get a multi-wavelength view of an object. Because cosmic objects change rapidly, hours- or days-long delays meant missing critical data. The Optical Monitor solves this by providing immediate context:

The Full Picture: While the X-ray cameras capture violent, million-degree gas around a black hole, the OM captures the cooler, surrounding gas in the home galaxy.
Tracking Flares: When an object suddenly erupts, scientists can track whether the surge in energy happens first in X-rays or visible light, revealing the physical mechanics of the blast.

Key Specs of the Optical Monitor

The Design: It is a compact Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, a design similar to the Hubble Space Telescope but much smaller.
Filter Wheel: It features a wheel with 11 different slots. These include filters for distinct visible light colors, ultraviolet bands, a magnifier, and a prism (grism) to split the visible light into a spectrum.
The Detectors: It uses photon-counting detectors that are incredibly sensitive, capable of detecting stars that are far too faint to be seen by the naked eye.

How the XMM-Newton Space Observatory Data Is Used to Detect Elusive Dark Matter

Because dark matter does not directly absorb, reflect, or emit light, the XMM-Newton space observatory cannot "see" it directly. Instead, astrophysicists use the observatory's extreme X-ray sensitivity to map and detect dark matter through gravitational proxy mapping and by hunting for hypothetical particle-decay signatures.

Mapping "Invisible" Gravitational Wells

Dark matter accounts for roughly 85% of all matter in the Universe and clusters together to form immense, invisible scaffolding across space. Galaxies and galaxy clusters form inside these massive dark matter “halos.”

The Trap: The crushing gravity of a massive dark matter halo pulls in surrounding normal gas (mostly hydrogen).
The X-ray Glow: As this gas falls into the gravitational well, it squeezes together and heats up to temperatures between 10 million and 100 million K. At this extreme temperature, the gas glows brilliantly in X-rays.
The Data Use: By using the EPIC cameras to map the volume and temperature of this glowing gas, scientists can calculate exactly how much gravity is required to hold it in place. The visible gas and stars account for about 20% of the required mass—the rest of the calculated framework maps the shape and density of the invisible dark matter.

Sifting Out Dark Matter From "Missing" Matter

A major challenge in dark matter research is separating it from normal, non-luminous gas (baryonic matter) that is too faint to see.

XMM-Newton's high spatial resolution allows researchers to isolate and remove "contaminating" X-ray sources like supermassive black holes.
By subtracting these hot point-sources, cosmologists can map the ultra-faint cosmic web structures, ensuring that their dark matter calculations are not skewed by hidden normal matter.

Hunting for the 3.5 keV Sterile Neutrino "Ghost" Line

One of the most exciting ways the XMM-Newton space observatory data is used is in searching for the literal identity of the dark matter particle. A leading theoretical candidate is the sterile neutrino—a heavy, hypothetical particle that barely interacts with normal matter.

The Theory: Physics models predict that over billions of years, sterile neutrinos will slowly decay into standard neutrinos and emit a very faint, specific X-ray photon.
The 3.5 keV Mystery: In 2014, scientists stacking years of archival XMM-Newton data from 73 different galaxy clusters discovered a highly unexpected, faint spike in X-ray emissions at an energy of 3.56 keV.
The Hunt: Because there are no known atomic elements that emit light at 3.56 keV in a hot plasma, many researchers hypothesized that this was the first direct signature of decaying dark matter particles.

While the 3.56 keV line is highly debated and studied by the scientific community to rule out instrumental or subtle atomic anomalies, it demonstrates how XMM-Newton's high-throughput archives act as a primary tool for particle physicists seeking to crack the dark matter mystery.

Reflection Grating Spectrometer X-ray spectra

An RGS X-ray spectrum looks like a jagged line graph filled with sharp, narrow emission line spikes. Unlike the broad, smooth images captured by standard cameras, the RGS on the XMM-Newton space observatory spreads out incoming X-rays by their specific wavelength. This creates a plot that details what elements are heating up in deep space.

Elements of an RGS Spectrum

The X-Axis (Energy or Wavelength): This shows either the Rest Energy measured in kiloelectronvolts (keV) or the wavelength in Angstroms (Å). It ranges across the "soft" or lower-energy X-ray band.
The Y-Axis (Flux or Counts): This measures the intensity or brightness of the X-rays hitting the CCD detector strip. Higher spikes mean more photons are being detected at that precise energy level.
Sharp Spikes (Emission Lines): Every tall peak represents a chemical element glowing at millions of degrees. Scientists can easily pick out individual spikes for heavily ionized Oxygen (O VII, O VIII), Neon (Ne IX), Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg), and Nitrogen (N).
Deep Dips (Absorption Edges): Sudden drops or troughs in the graph show where cooler foreground gas clouds have absorbed specific X-ray wavelengths, acting like a cosmic shadow.

Visual Data Examples

The following image illustrates how astronomers view RGS spectrum data, showcasing actual plots that map out the physical state and chemistry of cosmic objects:

XMM-Newton space observatory data obtained with RGS (black). RGS1 data is shown in the upper panel, and RGS2 in the lower panel. Again, note the differing y-scale ranges in each panel. The multi-temperature APEC model used for the Chandra data is clearly a much poorer fit to the RGS data. In particular, oxygen and nitrogen features are poorly accounted for by the model. An additional low-temperature component is inconsistent with the observed H-like to He-like line ratios. The enhanced O and N features are consistent with X-ray emission from the nova ejecta.

How Astronomers Read Specific Spikes to Calculate the Speed of a Supernova Explosion

Astronomers calculate the speed of a supernova explosion by measuring how much these specific spikes shift away from their normal position on the graph. This process relies entirely on the Doppler Effect, the same physics principle that causes an approaching ambulance siren to sound high-pitched and a receding siren to sound low-pitched.

Because the gas from an exploding star is expanding rapidly in all directions, some of the debris rushes directly toward Earth, while the debris on the far side rushes away.

Finding the "Rest Wavelength"

Every chemical element has a unique atomic fingerprint. In a stationary laboratory on Earth, an element like ionized Iron (Fe)or Oxygen (O) will always emit a sharp spike at one exact, known position on the graph. For example, a specific type of glowing oxygen gas always emits light at a rest wavelength of exactly 18.97 Angstroms. This serves as the astronomer's baseline.

Measuring the Shift

When XMM-Newton's RGS instrument captures data from a supernova, astronomers look closely at that oxygen spike:

The Blue Shift: The gas from the front of the explosion is flying toward our telescope. This motion compresses the X-ray light waves, shifting the spike to a shorter, more energetic wavelength (e.g., shifting down from 18.97 to 18.78 Angstroms).
The Red Shift: The gas on the back wall of the explosion is flying away from us. This stretches the light waves out, shifting the spike to a longer, less energetic wavelength (e.g., up to 19.16 Angstroms).

Calculating the Speed

Because the explosion expands in a sphere, the single sharp spike spreads out and blurs into a wide, broad bump. The width of this broad peak tells astronomers the maximum shift in wavelength:

By measuring how wide the base of the peak is, astronomers can calculate exactly how fast the gas is expanding. Using this data, the XMM-Newton space observatory has clocked supernova debris tearing through space at staggering speeds of over 10,000 kilometers per second.

How This Data Reveals the Age of a Supernova Remnant

Astronomers cannot look at a single RGS spectrum and read a simple clock. Instead, they use the chemical spikes and the expansion speed to calculate the age of a supernova remnant using two distinct methods: backtracking the expansion or measuring chemical ionization time.

Method 1: The "Rewind the Tape" Calculation

This is a geometric calculation that requires combining XMM-Newton's expansion speed data with a physical image of the remnant.

Step 1 (Find the Current Size): Astronomers use the EPIC imaging cameras to take a picture of the supernova remnant and measure its current physical radius (how far the outer shockwave has traveled from the center of the blast).
Step 2 (Clock the Speed): As detailed before, astronomers use the RGS spectrum spikes to calculate the exact expansion speed (velocity) of that outer shockwave.
Step 3 (The Division): If you know how far the debris has traveled, and you know how fast it is currently moving, you can divide the distance by the speed to calculate how long ago the star exploded.

The Catch: This assumes the gas has been moving at a constant speed. Because the debris slows down as it plows into surrounding interstellar gas, astronomers use complex computer models to account for this braking effect and pinpoint the exact launch date.

Method 2: The "Atomic Clock" (Ionization Age)

When a star explodes, a violent shockwave rips through the surrounding space gas. This gas is instantly heated to millions of degrees, ionizing atoms.

The Delayed Reaction: Ripping electrons away from heavy atoms like Iron (Fe) or Silicon (Si) takes time. Immediately after the blast, the atoms only lose a few electrons. As centuries pass and the gas remains hot, the atoms are continuously battered, losing more and more electrons.
Reading the RGS Spikes: The RGS instrument is so sensitive it can differentiate between an Iron atom missing 16 electrons and one missing 24 electrons. Each state creates a spike at a slightly different position on the graph.
Calculating the Age: By looking at the ratio of these specific spikes, astronomers calculate the Ionization Age. If the spectrum shows mostly low-ionized atoms, the shockwave hit the gas very recently (a young remnant). If the spectrum shows highly stripped, highly ionized atoms, the gas has been cooking in the shockwave for a very long time (an old remnant).

By combining these two methods, the XMM-Newton space observatory can determine if a supernova remnant is a young "baby" exploded just a few hundred years ago (like the remnants of Kepler's or Tycho's supernovae) or an ancient structure that has been expanding for tens of thousands of years.

How the Temperature of The Supernova Explosion is Calculated

Astronomers calculate the temperature of a supernova explosion by measuring the ratios between different chemical spikes on the RGS spectrum graph. This technique relies on the fact that as an exploding star gets hotter, its atoms lose further electrons, altering the specific wavelengths of X-ray light they can emit.

The Physics: Stripping the Atoms

Because the explosion expands in a sphere, the single sharp spike spreads out and blurs into a wide, broad bump. The width of this broad peak tells astronomers the maximum shift in wavelength:

At 1 Million °C: An oxygen atom might lose 6 of its 8 electrons. This specific state (Oxygen-7) emits X-ray photons that create a spike at a precise wavelength on the graph.
At 5 Million °C: The higher heat strips away 7 of its 8 electrons. This hotter state (Oxygen-8) emits a different energy photon, creating a completely separate spike further down the graph.

The Calculation: Comparing Spike Heights

To find the exact temperature, astronomers do not look at how tall a single spike is. Instead, they divide the height of one chemical spike by the height of another.

The Thermometer Ratio: Astronomers measure the ratio between the Oxygen-8 spike and the Oxygen-7 spike.
Reading the Result: If the Oxygen-8 spike is much taller than the Oxygen-7 spike, it proves the environment is incredibly hot, because the gas had enough thermal energy to strip away that extra electron. If the Oxygen-7 spike dominates, the temperature is significantly cooler.

Fine-Tuning with Computer Models

Once astronomers have the ratio between the spikes, they plug the numbers into a digital plasma simulation code (such as SPEX or XSPEC).

The software simulates a virtual cloud of gas and adjusts its temperature until the simulated peaks perfectly match the real-world jagged line captured by XMM-Newton. This method allows astronomers to measure interstellar gases cooking at precise temperatures anywhere from 1 million to over 100 million K.

X-Ray Spectra Provide the Sharpest Image to Date of a Rapidly Spinning Black Hole

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a joint mission between the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, launched on Sept. 7th, 2023. Its advanced imaging filters and spectrometers were designed to study black holes and neutron stars and detect the hot plasma in the intergalactic medium.

Alongside the European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission Newton (the XMM-Newton space observatory) and NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), XRISM has provided the sharpest-ever X-ray spectrum of the iconic MCG–6-30-15.

Located 120.7 million light years away, this Type 1 Seyfert galaxy is noted for its variable X-ray spectrum and a central supermassive black hole (SMBH), estimated to be about 2 million solar masses.

The research team, led by Laura Brenneman of the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), has managed to isolate the broad iron emission line and the associated "reflection" that are indicative of a rapidly-spinning SMBH. Thanks to XRISM's unmatched spectral resolution, the team was able to study the black hole's immediate environment (which includes an accretion disk that extends close to its event horizon).

For some time, astronomers have suspected that a large fraction of the X-ray emissions coming from this galaxy originates from matter very close to the galaxy's SMBH. However, previous X-ray telescopes have lacked the resolution to separate the various emission and absorption lines in this energy range, preventing them from investigating this theory.

In regions that are close to an SMBH's event horizon, gravity radically alters the curvature of spacetime (consistent with Einstein's Theory of General Relativity), making it hard to separate light signals originating near the event horizon from more distant gas clouds.

By combining ultra-high resolution data from XRISM's "Resolve" X-ray instrument with the broadband power of the XMM-Newton space observatory and NuSTAR, the team obtained data that allowed them to separate the emission and absorption lines from these two sources.

As Brenneman explained in a CfA press release:

"Astrophysical black holes have only two properties: mass and spin. We can estimate their masses by several different means, but measuring their spins is much harder and requires collecting data from gas that is orbiting the black hole immediately outside the event horizon. For supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei, this is best accomplished by obtaining X-ray spectra with high signal-to-noise and spectral resolution."

The study, which was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal, confirmed the presence of a warped iron emission line in the X-ray spectrum. This has provided the first evidence of material orbiting at close to the speed of light near the event horizon rather than outflowing winds between Earth and the galaxy.

This region, they suggest, produces about 50 times as much X-ray reflection as more distant gas clouds. A companion study led by co-author Daniel R. Wilkins of Ohio State University, recently submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, builds on these results by analyzing the spectra at different times of observation.

According to Brennerman, these results show how astronomers can use XRISM to confirm and refine previous measurements of black hole spin rates obtained from lower-resolution X-ray spectra. Their study also revealed crucial data about the SMBH's corona, the billion-degree region that extends above and below the accretion disk. This region is responsible for producing most of an SMBH's X-ray emission and has long been a mystery in astrophysics.

Their study has also revealed at least five distinct zones of a wind created and driven by accretion onto the black hole. Said Brennerman:

"We want to go back and look at all of the sources for which we have lower-resolution spectra and observe them with XRISM, and say, 'Okay, now that we're confident we can separate the narrow and the broad features, how accurate were our previous spin measurements?'

"Understanding these winds in addition to the black hole's spin is important because they can tell us how galaxies grow and evolve, either primarily by collecting gas or by mergers with other galaxies and black holes. So, measuring these two quantities accurately gives us a holistic view of the symbiotic relationship between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies."

[Comment]

Astronomers and astrophysicists worldwide continue to believe the Big Bang theory, relativity, the existence of black holes, neutron stars, expanding space-time, and other invented notions such as dark matter and energy, because these concepts help keep the standard cosmological model from falling apart.

The impression is that the tools used by astronomers, such as the XMM-Newton space observatory, are technically superb and operate marvelously. However, the people using those instruments misinterpret the data acquired.

Instead of having the courage to admit that the gravity-centered standard cosmological model is seriously flawed and go back to the drawing board, they simply carry on hypothesizing, forcing awkward data to fit their precious model rather than questioning the model itself.

It is as if what they have been taught is the absolute truth, and so they must continue acquiring more data to help convince themselves and their peers that their interpretations comply with mainstream cosmological orthodoxy.

The XMM-Newton observatory is oversubscribed because new hypotheses must constantly be generated to account for data that the standard model cannot adequately explain.

That missing explanatory power is essentially fundamental.

It is the overwhelming electrical nature of the Universe that is absent from the standard model.

So, they misinterpret exploding plasma double layers as supernovae explosions.

They need to scientifically define 'energy' and 'mass' before presuming to formulate a cosmological model.

Nature is fundamentally simple and efficient. It does not do things the hard way. It is the result of the interplay of positive and negative charges.