XRISM’s Resolve instrument has revealed that N132D is not a simple, spherical bubble of gas, as previously thought, but rather a complex structure shaped like a doughnut.

“XRISM’s Resolve instrument will let us peer into the make-up of cosmic X-ray sources to a degree that hasn’t been possible before,” Kelley said.

XRISM will make use of this effect when it looks at X-ray emissions from materials that surround the most massive and dense objects in the universe, namely supermassive black holes that lie at the ...

XRISM could change the way we see the X-ray universe, but a jammed door presents a mighty challenge. With the door closed, low energy X-rays are impossible to detect.

XRISM is not only a major accomplishment on its own, but will also serve as a pathfinder and test drive for future missions as well. “XRISM will be a valuable bridge between ESA’s other X ...

XRISM is a rebuild of the Hitomi mission, a JAXA spacecraft that launched in 2016. The Hitomi telescope spun out of control weeks into its mission, and Japan lost contact with the spacecraft.

XRISM and SLIM were expected to launch from an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center on Sunday at 8:26 p.m. Eastern time (or Monday at 9:26 a.m. in Japan).

XRISM, a collaboration between NASA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), features a telescope named Resolve that is a microcalorimeter spectrometer, ...

“XRISM’s Resolve instrument will let us peer into the make-up of cosmic X-ray sources to a degree that hasn’t been possible before,” Kelley said.

A jammed door on XRISM presents a mighty challenge. With the door closed, low energy X-rays are impossible to detect. But trying to open the door could put the rest of the mission at risk.