Super-soft x-ray source

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 [ [http://library.thinkquest.org/27930/supersoft.htm Supersoft X-Ray Sources] ] . Super soft X-rays are believed to be produced by steady nuclear fusion on a white dwarf's surface of material pulled from a binary companion [ [http://www.mpe.mpg.de/~jcg/sss/sss_high.html 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 [ [http://www.mpe.mpg.de/~jcg/sss/sssw.html 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 [ [http://www.aip.de/~jcg/sss/ssscat.html Catalog of Supersoft X-ray Sources] ] .

References


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