The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is a JAXA/NASA
collaborative mission, with ESA participation, with the objective to
investigate X-ray celestial objects in the Universe with
high-throughput, high-resolution spectroscopy. XRISM launched on a
JAXA H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 8:42
a.m on September 7, 2023 JST (23:42 on September 6, 2023 UT).
XRISM studies the most extreme environments in the cosmos using
X-ray light, supporting NASA's mission to explore the unknown in space
and inspire the world through discovery. The mission is designed to
transform our understanding of the hot and energetic universe,
allowing ground-breaking new research into black holes, clusters
of galaxies, compact objects, and the aftermath of stellar explosions.
XRISM uses X-ray spectroscopy to determine the chemical makeup of
distant objects with unprecedented high-resolution, revealing new
insights about the physics of the cosmos. The mission is shedding
light on some of the most compelling topics in astrophysics,
including
the structure and evolution of the universe,
the creation and distribution of heavy elements,
and how energy and matter are transported and circulated in
regions of strong gravity, electromagnetic fields, and shock waves.
XRISM accomplishes this with two complementary instruments:
Resolve, XRISM's core instrument, is a high-resolution X-ray
spectrometer that is one of the coldest instruments ever designed,
operating at just a few hundredths of a degree above absolute
zero. The spectra from Resolve are the most detailed ever captured for
a wide variety of objects in the universe.
Resolve is complemented by Xtend, a soft X-ray imager that
expands the observatory's field of view to give XRISM one of the
largest viewing areas of any X-ray imaging observatory ever flown.
Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound structures of
our Universe. Most of the normal matter is in the form of a hot, X-ray
emitting gas that exists between the individual galaxies known as the
"intracluster medium." But what is the cosmic history of this medium?
How does it assemble into such large scale structures? How does it get
heated to extreme temperatures of tens of millions of degrees? How do
outflows from supermassive black holes and cluster-cluster mergers
affect its dynamics on both large and small scales? What is the
chemical composition of this gas and how do clusters get enriched by
stars and supernovae across cosmic times? XRISM is making detailed
measurements of these objects, characterizing the temperature,
chemical makeup, and motions of the hot gas in clusters, providing
decisive answers to these fundamental questions and revolutionizing
our understanding of the formation and the evolution of the largest
structures in our Universe.
XRISM observations are ideally suited to spatially-extended sources such as supernova remnants, whose X-ray morphology is a complex interplay between plasma in various ionization states. High spectral resolution observations allow astronomers to disentangle the components of the emission lines resulting from the thermal properties of the hot gas with those resulting from the bulk motion of the material expanding at thousands of kilometers per second. XRISM is making detailed measurements of the abundances of various elements synthesized in supernovae, a direct probe of the mechanism of stellar explosions.
Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Milisavljevic et al., NASA/JPL/CalTech; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt and K. Arcand.
A collection of stellar winds from massive stars and supernova
explosions create a galactic wind, which removes materials from the
galaxy and, therefore, affects the evolution of the galaxy. But how do
winds blow through galaxies? How far do winds travel? And what is the
fate of hot winds? XRISM is measuring the velocity of the hot winds
for the first time, constraining the total energy of the winds driven
by star formation. XRISM also provides the metal contents of winds
to trace how heavy materials are transported into intergalactic
space.
Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, JAXA/NASA, XRISM Collaboration et al. 2026; X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht.
Black holes big and small, when actively accreting matter, can launch powerful winds from their accretion disks. In the case of the supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies, these outflows can carry massive amounts of mass and energy, potentially impacting gas and stars in the host galaxy.
XRISM is uniquely suited to answer many critical questions about the origin and destiny of such black hole winds. Thanks to Resolve's high spectral resolution in the hard X-ray band and good effective area, scientists are able to resolve the structure of absorption lines imprinted by these outflows onto the black hole disk radiation and determine their velocities, column densities, and ionization. Furthermore, the shapes of the absorption features can be used to determine what force is pushing the gas away from the black hole, answering the long-standing question of whether these winds are magnetically, radiatively, or thermally driven.
High Mass X-ray Binaries, which consist of a massive star and a
compact object, provide the opportunity to study stellar winds as well
as binary mass transfer in great detail. In these systems,
radiation from the accretion process around the compact object is
"X-raying" the wind material. The wind material that is being accreted
is complex, e.g., as characterized by its geometry, its ionization
structure, possible clumping, and more. With its high spectral
resolution, XRISM is exceptionally well suited for separating the X-ray
signatures of different wind components and characterizing the binary
accretion process.
Massive stars with tens of solar masses slowly lose mass through
high-velocity winds, especially near the end of their lifetime. These
gases include elements such as nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon, which go
on to be the ingredients of future stars, planets, and even life
itself. XRISM is measuring the motions and elemental abundances of hot
gases produced by the winds, witnessing how these stars supply
essential materials to the cosmos.
If you have questions regarding XRISM, concerning, e.g., calibration, analysis, proposing, ToOs, or coordination, please
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