Credit: NASA; ESA; et al.
The High Energy Year in Pictures
What a year it's been, at least from a high-energy astrophysics standpoint. We started out with what may be the first observed instance of a black hole swallowing a star in a dwarf galaxy in the galaxy cluster Abell 1795. We had controversial reports of weird asymmetries in the cosmic microwave background, the echo of the Big Bang, and a claim of the first detection of gravity waves from the Big Bang, another result astrophysicists are re-examining. We had an identification of a strange X-ray emission line which might be the signal of dark matter. We danced with Gamma-ray bursts. We watched the X-rays from the supermassive star Eta Car fade as its companion star passed behind it, nearly skimming its surface. And we were scared by the Sun, and by the enormous flare from the small young star DG CVn. We said happy birthday to XMM-Newton, Chandra and Swift, and probed the event horizon of a black hole with NuSTAR. What's left to do in 2015? Stay tuned, and happy new year.
Published: December 29, 2014
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Page Author: Dr. Michael F. Corcoran
Last modified Monday, 26-Feb-2024 17:03:32 EST