X-Ray Vision

Why is it important to progress to bigger and better telescopes?

ROSAT All Sky Survey Chandra Hubble

Look at this level of detail!

Criteria #1

Look for objects that have x-ray sources near the center!

Terzan 12

IC 1276

NGC 6171

NGC 4833

NGC 6541

NGC 6717

Lynga 7

Terzan 3

NCG 6362

NGC 6749

TON 2

NGC 6273

NGC 6723

NGC 6287

Looking at X-ray sources

Objects sometimes have more than 1 x-ray source.

Now look to see which sources are closest to the centers of the globular clusters.

NGC 6541

1

2

NGC 6717

1

2

Lynga 7

1

3

5

4

26

NGC 6749

1

TON 2

12

3 4 6

5

NGC 6273

3

5

1 2

4

NGC 6723

1

4

3

6

2 5

7

NGC 6287

1

6

354

2

To: david_morris@nasaxray.comFrom: mj.tykoski@wylieisd.netRe: X-ray source information

Dear Dr. Morris,

Here are the 10 x-ray sources that we would like more information on:

NGC 6541 Source 1NGC 6717 Sources 1-2Lynga 7 Sources 1-4NGC 6749 Source 1Ton 2 Source 1NGC 6723 Source 1

We need the additional information ASAP because we only have 20 minutes of class left.

Thank you!Mrs. Tykoski’s 7th Period Class

Hi there! The next thing you want to look for is the number of photons (energy packets) in the 3 groups. X-ray astronomers divide these photons into 3 groups: high energy photons, medium energy photons, and low energy photons. The best x-ray sources will have similar numbers of photons in all 3 of these bands.

I’m attaching this information for 9 of the 10 sources you requested. We had a telescope malfunction when looking at NGC 6723. You need to narrow down your list to 3 X-ray sources for me to send on to Chandra. I will need your recommendation by today.

Cheers,Dr. David Morris

To: mj.tykoski@wylieisd.net From: david_morris@nasaxray.comRe: X-ray source information

Criteria #2

Look for sources that have similar numbers in the low, medium, and high energy bands in the X-ray

NGC 6541 Source 1

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

numbe

r of h

igh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

NGC 6541 Source 2

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

NGC 6717 Source 1

number

of low

energ

y phot

ons

numbe

r of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hotons

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Lygna 7 Source 1

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Lygna 7 Source 2

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

numbe

r of h

igh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Lygna 7 Source 3

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Lygna 7 Source 4

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Lygna 7 Source 5

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Lygna 7 Source 6

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Series1

NGC 6749 Source 1

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

NGC 6717 Source 2

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

TON 2 Source 1

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

TON 2 Source 2

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

TON 2 Source 3

numbe

r of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

numbe

r of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

TON 2 Source 4

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

TON 2 Source 5

numbe

r of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

2

4

6

8

10

12

TON 2 Source 6

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

NGC 6273 Source 1

numbe

r of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

NGC 6273 Source 2

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

NGC 6273 Source 3

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

NGC 6273 Source 4

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

2

4

6

8

10

12

NGC 6273 Source 5

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

NGC 6287 Source 1

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

NGC 6287 Source 2

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

NGC 6287 Source 3

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

NGC 6287 Source 4

number of low energy photons number of medium energy photons number of high energy photons0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

NGC 6287 Source 5

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

numbe

r of m

edium

energ

y pho

tons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

NGC 6287 Source 6

number

of lo

w energ

y phot

ons

number

of m

edium

energ

y phot

ons

number

of hi

gh en

ergy p

hoton

s0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

To: david_morris@nasaxray.comFrom: mj.tykoski@wylieisd.netRe: Final recommendation

Dear Dr. Morris,

Here are the 3 x-ray sources that we recommend for Chandra:

Lygna 7 Source 4Lygna 7 Soruce 3NGC 6717 Source 1

We hope we made good picks!

Wow! I’m really impressed with how much data reduction you did in such a short period of time! Thank you for helping me out with this. I’ll send the recommendations to Chandra!

Cheers,Dr. David Morris

To: mj.tykoski@wylieisd.net From: david_morris@nasaxray.comRe: Final recommendation

List one thing you learned about x-ray astronomy from this activity

List one thing that you thought worked well during this activity.

List one Improvement for this activity (constructive comments only!)

Survey