NASA's Chandra detects 84 hypersoft X-ray sources in 6 galaxies
Scientists just spotted 84 mysterious, faint X-ray objects in six galaxies, including Andromeda and the Pinwheel Galaxy, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
These "hypersoft X-ray sources" glow with low-energy X-rays and lots of ultraviolet light, and the findings were published this week in Nature Astronomy.
Accreting binaries may explain hydrogen ionization
Turns out, these objects are likely binary systems where white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes pull gas from nearby stars, creating intense UV radiation.
Studying them could help answer big questions about how hydrogen gets ionized in space and what triggers certain types of supernova explosions, key for understanding cosmic distances and how galaxies evolve.
Even though we haven't found them in our own Milky Way yet (thanks to all the gas blocking their signals), scientists think they might be way more common than anyone expected.