NASA
NASA | RXTE Detects 'Heartbeat' Of Smallest Black Hole Candidate
This animation compares the X-ray 'heartbeats' of GRS 1915 and IGR J17091, two black holes that ingest gas from companion stars. GRS 1915 has nearly five times the mass of IGR J17091, which at three solar masses may be the smallest black...
NASA
NASA'S NICER Does the Space Station Twist
This time-lapse video, obtained June 8, 2018, shows the precise choreography of NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) as it studies pulsars and other X-ray sources from its perch aboard the International Space...
NASA
NASA's NICER Tracks a Magnetar's Hot Spots
For the first time, NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) has observed the merging of multimillion-degree X-ray spots on the surface of a magnetar, a supermagnetized stellar core no larger than a city. NICER tracked...
NASA
‘Winking’ Star May Be Devouring Wrecked Planets
Astronomers studying the star RZ Piscium have found evidence suggesting its strange, unpredictable dimming episodes may be caused by vast orbiting clouds of gas and dust, the remains of one or more destroyed planets. Young stars are...
Curated Video
x Is For xylophone - Lower Case
A cute and engaging video where the letter 'x' is taught with its alphabet letter sound along with different words beginning with 'x'.
Curated Video
X Is For Xylophone - Upper Case
A cute and engaging video where the letter 'X' is taught with its alphabet letter sound along with different words beginning with 'X'.
NASA
NASA | A Flickering X-ray Candle
The Crab Nebula, created by a supernova seen nearly a thousand years ago, is one of the sky's most famous "star wrecks." For decades, most astronomers have regarded it as the steadiest beacon at X-ray energies, but data from orbiting...
NASA
Hitomi Measures Perseus Galaxy Cluster's X-ray Winds
Measurements of unprecedented detail returned by Japan's Hitomi satellite have allowed scientists to track the motion of X-ray-emitting gas at the heart of the Perseus cluster of galaxies for the first time. The results showcase the...
NASA
NASA | X-ray Nova Reveals a New Black Hole in Our Galaxy
On Sept. 16, NASA's Swift satellite detected a rising tide of high-energy X-rays from a source toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The outburst, produced by a rare X-ray nova, announced the presence of a previously unknown...
NASA
NASA | X-ray Satellites Monitor the Clashing Winds of a Colossal Binary
O-type stars are among the most massive and hottest known, pounding their surroundings with intense ultraviolet light and powerful outflows called stellar winds. NASA's Swift and ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatories took part in a 2011...
NASA
NICER Charts the Area Around a New Black Hole
Scientists have mapped the environment surrounding a black hole that is 10 times the mass of the Sun using NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload aboard the International Space Station. NICER detected X-ray...
NASA
X-ray 'Tsunami' Found in Perseus Galaxy Cluster
Combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory with radio observations and computer simulations, scientists have found a vast wave of hot gas in the nearby Perseus galaxy cluster. Spanning some 200,000 light-years, the wave is...
NASA
Simulation Reveals Spiraling Supermassive Black Holes
A new model is bringing scientists a step closer to understanding the kinds of light signals produced when two supermassive black holes, which are millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, spiral toward a collision. For the...
Red Rock Films
Women's History Activator: Marie Curie
Event: October 1921. Scientist Marie Curie, winner of two Nobel prizes, visits the White House to accept a gift of one gram of radium. Story: Marie Curie worked hard to study science and was sometimes rejected because of her gender. She...
NASA
NASA Missions Study Shock Waves in Nova Explosion
Unprecedented observations of a nova outburst in 2018 by a trio of satellites, including NASA’s Fermi and NuSTAR space telescopes, have captured the first direct evidence that most of the explosion’s visible light arose from shock waves...
NASA
NASA | Fermi Catches a 'Transformer' Pulsar
In late June 2013, an exceptional binary system containing a rapidly spinning neutron star underwent a dramatic change in behavior never before observed. The pulsar's radio beacon vanished, while at the same time the system brightened...
NASA
Doomed Neutron Stars Create Blast of Light and Gravitational Waves
Doomed neutron stars whirl toward their demise in this animation. Gravitational waves (pale arcs) bleed away orbital energy, causing the stars to move closer together and merge. As the stars collide, some of the debris blasts away in...
NASA
NASA | A Young Star Flaunts its X-ray Spots
Using combined data from a trio of orbiting X-ray telescopes, including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Japan-led Suzaku satellite, astronomers have obtained a rare glimpse of the powerful phenomena that accompany a...
Visual Learning Systems
Light: Electromagnetic Waves
Upon viewing the Light video series, students will be able to do the following: List some of the reasons light is important to all living things. Understand that light is a type of energy. Describe how light behaves both as a wave and as...