An orbiting X-ray telescope, operated by UC Berkeley’s Space Science Lab, was successfully launched on Wednesday, June 13 and took its first light images on Thursday, June 28. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Array or NuSTAR will seek out black holes by detecting high energy X-Rays. NuSTAR is a Small Explorer mission led by Caltech and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. UC Berkeley provided one of the scientific instruments and will control orbital operations of the spacecraft.
NuSTAR began its journey aboard an L-1011 “Stargazer” jet operated by Orbital Services Corporation. NuStar was perched atop an Orbital Services Pegasus XL rocket, both of which were strapped to the belly of the jet. The plane left Kwajalein Atoll one hour before launch. At approximately 9:00 a.m. PDT, the rocket dropped, free-falling for five seconds before firing its first stage motor. Thirteen minutes after the rocket dropped, NuStar separated from the rocket, reaching low Earth orbit.
On June 21 NuSTAR began deploying its 33-foot mast, which was folded up in a small canister during the launch. The NuSTAR team spent the following week verifying the pointing and motion capabilities of the spacecraft and verifying the alignment of the mast. The first images from the observatory show Cygnus X-1, a black hole in our galaxy that I siphoning off gas from a giant companion star. This particular black hole was chosen because it is extremely bright in X-rays, allowing the NuSTAR team to easily see where the telescopes’ focused X-rays are falling on the detectors. Over the next two weeks, NuSTAR will be pointed at two other bright calibration targets: G21.509, the remnants of a supernova explosion in our own galaxy, and 3C273, a black hole located about 2 billion light years away at the center of another galaxy.
During its two year prime mission, NuSTAR will take a census of black holes both inside and outside our Milky Way galaxy. Because it sees high-energy X-rays, NuSTAR will probe farther into the dynamic region around black holes and will measure how fast black holes are spinning. Other targets for the mission include the burnt-out remains of dead stars, high-speed jets of particles from the most extreme active galaxies hosting supermassive black holes, the temperamental surface of our sun, and structures where galaxies cluster together like megacities. NuSTAR will also respond to targets of opportunity including supernovae and gamma ray bursts.
Comments