We have joy, We have fun, We have X-rays in the Sun
December 23, 2014 6:39 AM   Subscribe

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), an X-ray telescope designed to observe deep space, has been used to capture images of X-rays streaming off the Sun for the first time.

From the WaPo article: "At first I thought the whole idea was crazy," mission principal investigator Fiona Harrison said in a statement. "Why would we have the most sensitive high energy X-ray telescope ever built, designed to peer deep into the universe, look at something in our own back yard?"
posted by Rob Rockets (11 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
My late father, who designed the mirrors for Chandra, would be pleased. I am verklempt.
posted by carmicha at 6:51 AM on December 23, 2014 [6 favorites]


There is an ANUSTART joke there, just waiting to be made.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:12 AM on December 23, 2014


Love your title. I listened to that Terry Jacks song over and over again as a teen. Not sure why.
posted by 724A at 7:32 AM on December 23, 2014


"Why would we have the most sensitive high energy X-ray telescope ever built, designed to peer deep into the universe, look at something in our own back yard?"

Because the resulting image is awesome!
posted by Gelatin at 7:57 AM on December 23, 2014


One of the scientists involved in this is in my pub quiz team. He had to run outside yesterday to conduct an interview about these images. We are still unsure if he's a legit scientist, though, as he got a physics question wrong last week.
posted by kariebookish at 9:06 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]


I am explaining to my grandson as he asks me, "Is that bad?", "The sun is the same, it is just our understanding of it, that has changed. We are just able to see it better." "Oh."

I like it in our backyard. Surprising what you can find.
posted by Oyéah at 9:41 AM on December 23, 2014


carmicha: "My late father, who designed the mirrors for Chandra, would be pleased. I am verklempt"

That is an awesome, awesome legacy, by the way.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:22 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]


Spiffy. If, like me, you are still working to get beyond your image of the Sun as a single homogenous blob, this page and this are good overviews of how it's not. Photosphere, Convection Zone, Radiation Zone, Danger Zone!
posted by benito.strauss at 11:01 AM on December 23, 2014


An excellent post title indeed. Terry Jacks actually rewrote a song already written by Rod McKuen (who I first heard sing it, in the 60s). McKuen's version, on the other hand, was merely an English translation of a song written earlier by Jacques Brel.

Nothing new under the sun, x-rays streaming off it or not.
posted by LeLiLo at 3:11 PM on December 23, 2014


If we're going to do Seasons In The Sun, we should link to Coverville's round-up of different versions.
posted by benito.strauss at 3:51 PM on December 23, 2014


... Coverville's round-up of different versions.

Way off topic, but I enjoyed that, benito.s. Completely forgot I have the Kingston Trio version on vinyl as well, from many decades ago. And I'd never actually heard Brel's original in French.
posted by LeLiLo at 1:51 PM on December 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


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