This is Galaxy NGC5128 with its hot gas and many X-ray point sources. X-ray bursts originated from the circled source.
(Photo credit: NASA/CXC/U.Birmingham/M.Burke et al)
Two new sources of X-ray flares have been observed in galaxies near the Milky Way. While the nature of the X-ray bursts is uncertain, they are unlike any known object in the Milky Way and, as researchers note, seem to be located in old populations of stars. Another distinguishing factor for these mysterious flares is that unlike other objects that produce flares, such as sources of gamma ray bursts or supernovae, these newfound objects don’t self-destruct in the process of flaring.
Authors:
Jimmy A. Irwin, W. Peter Maksym, Gregory R. Sivakoff, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Dacheng Lin, Tyler Speegle, Ian Prado, David Mildebrath, Jay Strader, Jifeng Liu & Jon M. Miller
Corresponding author:
Jimmy Irwin, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
Canadian contributor:
Gregory R. Sivakoff, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, CCIS 4-181, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1, Canada
Original paper published in Nature on October 19, 2016.
