Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:NicoElNino(opens in a new window)/ Getty Images
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:NicoElNino(opens in a new window)/ Getty Images
Cloud Computing
Department of Commerce
Crypto
It’s been a hot minute since we could count the individual pixels on an imaging chip, but here we are… The array measures 0.2 inches (5 millimeters) on a side. The device produces a spectrum of X-ray sources between 400 and 12,000 electron volts — up to 5,000 times the energy of visible light — with unprecedented detail.Image Credits: NASA/XRISM/Caroline Kilbourne
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
gismo
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
layoff
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
concealment
Robotics
security measures
Social
place
inauguration
TikTok
transportation system
Venture
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
get hold of Us
NASA ’s James Webb Space Telescope is form strides in astronomy with its 122 - megapixel primarily infrared pic taken 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth . Impressive poppycock . The space agency ’s newest sky - Peeping Tom takes a different approach , however , performing groundbreaking space science with 36 pixels . That ’s not a typo—36 pixels , not 36 megapixels .
The X - shaft Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission ( XRISM ) , pronounced “ crism , ” is a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ) . The mission ’s artificial satellite launched into cranial orbit last September and has been scour the cosmos for answers to some of science ’s most complex questions ever since . The deputation ’s mental imagery instrument , Resolve , has a 36 - pixel image sensor .
“ Resolve is more than a camera . Its sensing element takes the temperature of each X - ray that strike it , ” allege Brian Williams , NASA ’s XRISM project scientist at Goddard , ina press command . “ We call Resolve a microcalorimeter mass spectrometer because each of its 36 pel is measuring tiny amount of oestrus deliver by each incoming X - electron beam , let us to see the chemical fingerprints of elements making up the sources in unprecedented detail . ”
Equipped with an sinful raiment of picture element , the Resolve instrument can detect “ delicate ” ecstasy - rays , which possess an energy approximately 5,000 times corking than seeable scant wavelength . Its primary focal point is exploring the hottest cosmic regions , the big structures , and the most monolithic heavenly object , such as supermassive black holes . Despite its limited pixel count , each pel in Resolve is remarkable , adequate to of generating a racy spectrum of ocular data embrace an zip range from 400 to 12,000 negatron volts .
The federal agency say the official document can comprehend the motions of elements within a target area , fundamentally offering a three - dimensional perspective . flatulence moving toward us pass off somewhat high-pitched zip than common , while gas prompt away emits slightly depressed energies . This capability opens up newfangled avenue for scientific geographic expedition . For instance , it enable scientist to understand the flow of blistering gas in galaxy cluster and to meticulously give chase the bowel movement of various elements in the remnants of supernova explosions .
