microquasar tagged posts

The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC) is a detector designed to look at gamma-ray emission coming from astronomical objects such as supernova remnants, quasars and rotating dense stars called pulsars. Located roughly 13,500 feet above sea level near the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico, the detector is composed of more than 300 tanks of water, each about 24 feet in diameter. When particles strike the water, they produce a shock wave of blue light called Cherenkov radiation. Special cameras in the tanks detect this light, allowing scientists to determine the origin of incoming gamma rays.
Credit: Jordan Goodman/University of Maryland

Picture of the GRS 1758-258 microquasar, obtained with the Jansky Very Large Array radiotelescope at 5 GHz frequency radio waves. The white line shows the Z-shape path formed by the relativistic plasma produced in the core region, where the black hole is located. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Barcelona