Astronomers using XRISM resolve captured gas falling onto neutron star
For the first time ever, astronomers have caught gas in the act of falling onto a neutron star, a direct test of long-standing ideas about how such systems feed.
Using the XRISM space telescope's Resolve instrument, they captured this rare event on February 1, 2025.
The findings, published in Science Advances, offer new clues about how matter moves and behaves around these super-dense stars.
GX 301-2 redshifted iron signals infall
XRISM spotted redshifted iron lines near the neutron star GX 301-2, showing gas streaming in at about 430km per second.
What started as absorption lines switched to emission lines during the observation, a clear sign that material was actually within the neutron star's accretion radius.
Thanks to XRISM's powerful resolution (better than older telescopes like Chandra), astronomers could finally confirm that the finding offers a direct test of long-standing ideas about how such systems feed.