Now, we finally can see what Hitomi did right before it died.
It was only up there a month when something went wrong.
Despite attempts to regain control, Hitomi continued to spin and throw debris into space.
Eventually,JAXA declared that the $273 million satellitewas beyond recovery.
Some of that data is out today in anew paper in Nature, which shows Hitomis final observation.
It has some fascinating implications for what we know about the role of black holes in galaxy formation.
The intracluster gas is quieter than expected, co-author Andrew Fabian of Cambridge University told Gizmodo.
We expected that the level would be higher based on the activity of the central galaxy.
But the finding isnt just a surprising oasis of calm in a turbulent galaxy.
It also gives us insight into just what role black holes play in how galaxies door dontform.
That means that nearby black holes play a big role in the eventual size of a galaxy.
What it shows is that black holes very effectively control the growth rate of galaxies, said McNamara.
It also gives us a tantalizing look at how much promise the satellite held before it was lost.
Before Hitomi, there were two other attempts to send a microcalorimeter into spaceand both ended in strange accidents.
In 2000, a rocket mission that would have sent the first microcalorimeter into space exploded upon launch.
In 2005, a microcalorimeter actually made it into space, but was destroyed by a coolant leak.
There were surely discoveries that would have been made when we opened that window.
Were hoping we can still get one there.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
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