The NICER Navigates and Traces The X-Ray Sky

(Image Credit: NASA, NICER)

This is a map of the entire night sky as recorded by the payload on board the International Space Station, NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). 

As the International Space Station orbits the Earth every 93 minutes, the NICER tracks cosmic sources of X-rays.  As the sun sets and the night falls upon the orbital outpost, the NICER team keeps the X-ray detectors on and active. 

As the payload turns from target to target, “bright arcs and loops are traced across this all-sky map.” 

This map is made from 22 months of data gathered by NICER.

The arcs tend to converge on prominent bright spots, pulsars in the X-ray sky that NICER regularly targets and monitors. The pulsars are spinning neutron stars that emit clock-like pulses of X-rays. Their timing is so precise it can be used for navigation, determining spacecraft speed and position.

Via NASA


By Franzified