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Vast X-Ray Source Found in Constellation CentaurusCAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CPI) — Astronomers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered in the constellation Centaurus a mysterious source emitting vast and varying amounts of X-rays, it was announced Tuesday.The phenomenon was discovered by sending a balloon with new X-ray detecting equipment aloft to 150,000 feet to scan near the constellation, located in our!------------galaxy — the Milky Way — and riods as short as 15 seconds.visible in the Southern Hemisphere,The X-ray energy output in one second of flaring from the undefined source was about a million times greater than the total energy released by the Sun per second, an indication ofMIT said there is onlv one otherwX-ray source in the sky that has been seen previously to flare erratically. It was located in the constellation Scorpio in 1967 by Lew in.THE VARIATIONS in flux, i over periods as short as a fewstaggering celestial explosion, *: , ,. , .MIT coin in th* Hid seconds indicate the spots emit-MIT said in announcing the discoveryting the rays must be very small, “on the order of one light THE SCIENTISTS said what second.” or the distance be-makes the unexplained source tween the Earth and Moon, MIT “remarkable” was the magni- said.tude of the flaring and the short The energy outputs from such,time periods over which theyj small sources are what give evi-last.dence of “enormous celestialThe astronomers who discov-l explosions,” MIT said.ered the source are Jeffrey E. Most visible stars, or thoseMcClintock, George Ricker, and seen nightly, probably emitWalter H. G. Lewin, all mem- some X-ray energy but only inhers of the MIT Center for small amounts when compared •Space Research. A report on| to the energy they emit as visi-their finding was contained in ble light, scientists said. The a paper submitted to the As- Sun, for instance, emits 10 billion times more visible lighttrophysical Journal.The X-ray energy coming!ttian x'ray energ from the source rises to a peak| THE CENTAURUS data wasand falls to a minimum over pe-j recorded by Lewin and his associates last Oct. 15-16 with X-ravVeterans for Peace detection equipment launchedby balloon from Mildura, Australia. The balloon reached an The Madison Veterans fori altitude of 150.000 feet — 10.000to Remain Unlisted'Peace tried in vain Wednesday higher than any balloon-borne to get the 113th Military Intelli- X-ray detection equipment hadpence Group here to accept a ever reached — and scanned list of the organization’s mem- the constellation for 10 hours.bers.Astronomers, since the advent-Claiming that “we want to of X-ray astronomy about a dec-pave the taxpayers some money,” the vets delivered the ist in triplicate to the intelli-;ence unit's office at 106 E. Joty St.The Army has been criticizedade ago, have observed about 40 celestial sources of X-rays. More are expected later in the year when satellite-borne detectors able to remain aloft for longer periods of time are■ecentlv for “spying” on civi-raunt^e^ f° survey f^le heavens.
Newspaper Details
Madison Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Wisconsin, US
Fri, Mar 26, 1971
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Luis P.
AR 27 Jun 2019
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