The Rossi X-Ray

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite observes the fast-moving, high-energy worlds of black holes, neutron stars, X-ray pulsars and bursts of X-rays that light up the sky and then disappear forever. Observations from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have been used as evidence for the existence of the frame-dragging effect predicted by the theory of general relativity. In January 2006 it was announced that Rossi had been used to locate a candidate intermediate-mass black hole named M82 X-1.In February 2006 data from RXTE was used to prove that the diffuse background x-ray glow in our galaxy comes from innumerable, previously undetected white dwarfs and from other stars' coronae. How fast and how energetic are they? Well, some pulsars spin faster than a thousand times a second. And a neutron star produces a gravitational pull so powerful that a marshmallow striking the star's surface would hit with the force of a thousand hydrogen bombs. Astronomers study changes that happen from microseconds to months in cosmic objects to learn about how gravity works near black holes, how pulsars in binary systems are affected by mass transferring from one star to the other, and how the giant engines in distant galaxies are powered. RXTE was launched into low-Earth orbit on December 30, 1995, and is still going strong, making unique contributions to our understanding of these extreme objects. For RXTE, the trick to observing these kinds of objects is all in the timing -- an ability to observe changes in X-ray brightness that occur in a mere thousandths of a second, or over several years. Learn more about how this one-of-a-kind satellite has reshaped our understanding of what goes on in the most violent and bizarre regions of the Universe.

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