ScienceXRISM reportedly tracks stellar wind falling onto a neutron star
A space-news post says NASA and JAXA’s XRISM X-ray satellite observed gas from a blue giant falling onto its neutron-star companion in BP Crucis, about 13,000 light-years away.
TLDR
According to the post, XRISM observed BP Crucis for about 16 hours on February 1, 2025, near the end of a strong X-ray brightening. It describes a system pairing a blue giant about 40 times the Sun’s mass with GX 301-2, a neutron star that spins roughly once every 11 minutes. The post describes normally turbulent gas falling onto the neutron star, with swirling patterns before and after a close approach, and says the findings were published in Science Advances.
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XRISM reportedly tracks stellar wind falling onto a neutron star
A space-news post says NASA and JAXA’s XRISM X-ray satellite observed gas from a blue giant falling onto its neutron-star companion in BP Crucis, about 13,000 light-years away.
TLDR
According to the post, XRISM observed BP Crucis for about 16 hours on February 1, 2025, near the end of a strong X-ray brightening. It describes a system pairing a blue giant about 40 times the Sun’s mass with GX 301-2, a neutron star that spins roughly once every 11 minutes. The post describes normally turbulent gas falling onto the neutron star, with swirling patterns before and after a close approach, and says the findings were published in Science Advances.