Super-soft x-ray source

A super soft X-ray source is an astronomical source of very low energy x-rays. Soft x-rays have energies in the 0.09 to 2.5 keV range, whereas hard x-rays are in the 1-20 keV range Supersoft X-Ray Sources. Super soft x-rays however are believed to be produced by steady nuclear fusion on a white dwarf's surface of material pulled from a binary companion Super Soft X-ray Sources - Discovered with ROSAT (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics). This requires a flow of material sufficiently high to sustain the fusion. Contrast this with the nova, where less flow causes the material to only fuse sporadically. Super soft x-ray sources can evolve into type Ia supernova, where a sudden fusion of material destroys the white dwarf, and neutron stars, through collapse Proceedings of the Workshop on Supersoft X-ray Sources held at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.

History

Super soft x-ray sources were first discovered by the Einstein Observatory. Further discoveries were made by ROSAT Catalog of Supersoft X-ray Sources.

References

Category: Astronomical objects Category: X-rays