NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) TELESCOPE

Scientists using data from NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope on the International Space Station have discovered X-ray surges accompanying radio bursts from the pulsar in the Crab Nebula. The finding shows that these bursts, called giant radio pulses, release far more energy than previously suspected. Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-s-nicer-finds-x-ray-boosts-in-the-crab-pulsar-s-radio-bursts A pulsar is a type of rapidly spinning neutron star, the crushed, city-sized core of a star that exploded as a supernova. A young, isolated neutron star can spin dozens of times each second, and its whirling magnetic field powers beams of radio waves, visible light, X-rays, and gamma rays. If these beams sweep past Earth, astronomers observe clock-like pulses of emission and classify the object as a pulsar. Located about 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, the Crab Nebula and its pulsar formed in a supernova explosion. The neutron star spins 30 times each second, and at X-ray and radio wavelengths it is among the brightest pulsars in the sky. Out of more than 2,800 pulsars cataloged, the Crab pulsar is one of only a few that emit giant radio pulses, which occur sporadically and can be hundreds to thousands of times brighter than the regular pulses. And after decades of observations, only the Crab has been shown to enhance its giant radio pulses with emission from other parts of the spectrum. Previously seen in visible light, these enhancements now have been detected in X-rays for the first time. Between August 2017 and August 2019, researchers used NICER to repeatedly observe the Crab pulsar in X-rays. While NICER was watching, the team also studied the object using at least one of two ground-based radio telescopes in Japan. The team combined all of the X-ray data that coincided with giant radio pulses, revealing an X-ray boost of about 4% that occurred in synch with them. It’s remarkably similar to the 3% rise in visible light associated with the phenomenon, discovered in 2003. The researchers say that the total emitted energy associated with a giant pulse is dozens to hundreds of times higher than previously estimated from the radio and optical data alone. Music: "The Awakening" from Universal Production Music Video credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Narrator This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13737 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

Pursuing insights into fundamental physics beyond the reach of terrestrial (or even Solar System) experiments motivates much observational astronomy. Among NASA's recent efforts in this arena is the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission: its key science objective is to probe the physics of matter at the highest stable densities anywhere in the universe, found only in the cores of neutron stars. These objects are also remarkable for their strong gravity (second only to black holes), for anchoring the most powerful magnetic fields known, and for their extraordinary spin rates---a flywheel the size of Washington, D.C., containing up to twice the Sun's mass with a trillion times its magnetic field strength, and rotating several hundred times per second is surely one of nature's most outrageous offerings and host to plenty of unusual physics. Launched in 2017 to the International Space Station (ISS), the NICER payload observes neutron stars and other astrophysical targets in the "soft" X-ray band, at photon energies between 0.2 and 12 keV. I present the NICER mission and its central role in deepening our understanding of the physics governing neutron stars, black holes, and other celestial sources of X-rays.

A study of Pulsar J0030+0451 using the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) has revealed the "most precise and reliable size measurements of a pulsar to date," according to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Full Story: https://www.space.com/first-map-of-pulsar-surface-hotspots.html Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Scientists have reached a new frontier in our understanding of pulsars, the dense, whirling remains of exploded stars, thanks to observations from NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). Data from this X-ray telescope aboard the International Space Station has produced the first precise and dependable measurements of both a pulsar’s size and its mass. The pulsar in question, J0030+0451 (J0030 for short), is a solitary pulsar that lies 1,100 light-years away in the constellation Pisces. While measuring the pulsar's heft and proportions, NICER revealed that the shapes and locations of million-degree hot spots on the pulsar’s surface are much stranger than generally thought. Using NICER observations from July 2017 to December 2018, two groups of scientists mapped J0030’s hot spots using independent methods and converged on nearly identical results for its mass and size. One team, led by researchers at the University of Amsterdam, determined the pulsar is around 1.3 times the Sun’s mass, 15.8 miles (25.4 kilometers) across and has two hot spots — one small and circular, the other long and crescent-shaped. A second team found J0030 is about 1.4 times the Sun’s mass, about 16.2 miles (26 kilometers) wide and has two or three oval-shaped hot spots. All spots in all models are in the pulsar’s southern hemisphere — unlike textbook images where the spots lie on opposite sides other at each magnetic poles. Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-nicer-delivers-best-ever-pulsar-measurements-1st-surface-map Music: "Uncertain Ahead" and "Flowing Cityscape" (underscore). Both from Universal Production Music Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer Jeanette Kazmierczak (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Science Writer Michael Lentz (USRA): Animator Barb Mattson (University of Maryland College Park): Narrator Zaven Arzoumanian (NASA/GSFC): Scientist This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13240 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

A thermonuclear blast on a pulsar called J1808 resulted in the brightest burst of X-rays seen to date by NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope. The explosion, which occurred on a pulsar known as J1808 on Aug. 20, 2019, released as much energy in 20 seconds as our Sun does in almost 10 days. Watch to see how scientists think this incredible explosion occurred. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasas-nicer-catches-record-setting-x-ray-burst Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Chris Smith (USRA): Lead Producer Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park): Lead Science Writer Chris Smith (USRA): Lead Animator Walt Feimer (KBRwyle): Animator This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13419 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) was used to chart the environment around a black hole that was recently discovered, named MAXI J1820+070. NICER is an instrument mounted on the exterior of the International Space Station. -- Light "Echoes" of a Black Hole: https://www.space.com/42950-black-holes-x-ray-flares-source-found.html Credit: NASA/GSFC

Scientists have mapped the environment surrounding a black hole that is 10 times the mass of the Sun using NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload aboard the International Space Station. NICER detected X-ray light from a recently discovered black hole, called MAXI J1820+070 (J1820 for short), as it consumed material from a companion star. Waves of X-rays formed "light echoes" that reflected off the swirling gas near the black hole and revealed changes in the environment's size and shape. A black hole can siphon gas from a nearby star and into a ring of material called an accretion disk that glows in X-rays. Above this disk is the corona, a region of subatomic particles that glows in higher-energy X-rays. Astrophysicists want to better understand how the inner edge of the accretion disk and the corona change in size and shape as a black hole accretes material from its companion star. If they can understand how and why these changes occur in stellar-mass black holes over a period of weeks, they could shed light on how supermassive black holes evolve over millions of years and how they affect the galaxies in which they reside. One method used to chart those changes is called X-ray reverberation mapping, which uses X-ray reflections in much the same way sonar uses sound waves to map undersea terrain. From 10,000 light-years away, the scientists estimated that the corona contracted vertically from roughly 100 to 10 miles -- that's like seeing something the size of a blueberry shrink to something the size of a poppy seed at the distance of Pluto. Read more: https://go.nasa.gov/2FYFihq Music: "Superluminal" from Killer Tracks Video credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Lead Producer Jeanette Kazmierczak (University of Maryland College Park): Lead Science Writer Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Lead Animator Erin Kara (UMD): Lead Scientist Erin Kara (UMD): Narrator Aurore Simonet (Sonoma State University): Illustrator This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12854 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

This time-lapse video, obtained June 8, 2018, shows the precise choreography of NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) as it studies pulsars and other X-ray sources from its perch aboard the International Space Station. NICER observes and tracks numerous sources each day, ranging from the star closest to the Sun, Proxima Centauri, to X-ray sources in other galaxies. Movement in the movie, which represents a little more than one 90-minute orbit, is sped up by 100 times. One factor in NICER's gyrations is the motion of the space station's solar arrays, each of which extends 112 feet (34 meters). Long before the panels can encroach on NICER's field of view, the instrument pirouettes to aim its 56 X-ray telescopes at a new celestial target. As the movie o pens, the station's solar arrays are parked to prepare for the arrival and docking of the Soyuz MS-09 flight, which launched on June 6 carrying three members of the Expedition 56 crew. Then the panels reorient themselves and begin their normal tracking of the Sun. Neutron stars, also called pulsars, are the crushed cores left behind when massive stars explode. They hold more mass than the Sun in a ball no bigger than a city. NICER aims to discover more about pulsars by obtaining precise measures of their size, which will determine their internal make-up. An embedded technology demonstration, called Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT), is paving the way for using pulsars as beacons for a future GPS-like system to aid spacecraft navigation in the solar system -- and beyond. Music: "Frames of Motion" from Killer Tracks Credit: NASA This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13031 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Twitter https://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ · Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard/

Scientists analyzing the first data from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission have found two stars that revolve around each other every 38 minutes. One of the stars in the system, called IGR J17062-6143 (J17062 for short), is a rapidly spinning, superdense star called a pulsar. The discovery bestows the stellar pair with the record for the shortest-known orbital period for a certain class of pulsar binary system. The data from NICER also show J17062's stars are only about 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) apart, less than the distance between Earth and the Moon. Based on the pair's breakneck orbital period and separation, scientists involved in a new study of the system think the second star is a hydrogen-poor white dwarf. The researchers were also able to determine that J17062's stars revolve around each other in a circular orbit, which is common for this type of system. The white dwarf donor star is a "lightweight," only around 1.5 percent of our Sun's mass. The pulsar is much heavier, around 1.4 solar masses. The stars orbit a point around 1,900 miles (3,000 km) from the pulsar, almost as if the donor star orbits a stationary neutron star, but NICER can is sensitive enough to detect a slight fluctuation in the neutron star's X-ray emission due to the tug from the donor star. Music: "Games Show Sphere 2" from Killer Tracks Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12938 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Twitter https://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ · Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard/

Lynx will take X-ray astronomy to new levels by combining a large gain in collecting area over Chandra and XMM, an angular resolution of 1/2 arcsecond, and high-throughput spectroscopy over a large field of view. NASA has begun a series of studies of four concepts that will in a few years’ time produce candidate designs for a major space observatory to begin construction later next decade. One of these has been dubbed Lynx, an x-ray “flagship" mission will probe some of the most explosive and high-energy objects in our Universe, and will provide insight into the seeds of Black Holes, the formation and evolution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies and even of the stars themselves. Please join our regular hosts Tony Darnell and Harley Thronson, as they discuss with Dr. Alexey Vikhlinin from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory the science that will be revealed by a telescope investigating the x-ray universe.

Several cameras on the International Space Station (ISS) have eyes on NICER. Since arriving to the space station on June 5 – aboard SpaceX’s eleventh cargo resupply mission – NICER underwent robotic installation on ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 2, initial deployment, precise point tests and more. This video shows segments of NICER’s time in space. Scientists and engineers will continue to watch NICER, using these cameras, throughout the mission’s science operations. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Clare Skelly Music Credits: KillerTracks, Strange Reality This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12668 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Or subscribe to NASA’s Goddard Shorts HD Podcast: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/iTunes/f0004_index.html Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Twitter https://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ · Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard/ · Google+ https://plus.google.com/+NASAGoddard/posts

This weekend, NASA will be sending a new tool, called NICER, to the International Space Station (ISS). Carried by a commercial SpaceX rocket, NASA hopes to find answers for one of the most powerful and mysterious forces in the universe: The NEUTRON STAR. Learning about neutron stars could help scientists understand more about both the nature of matter in the universe and, perhaps, how to get around it. Watch CGTN LIVE on your computer, tablet or mobile http://america.cgtn.com/livenews Subscribe to CGTN America on YouTube Follow CGTN America: Twitter: @cgtnamerica Facebook: @cgtnamerica Google+: CctvamericaTvnews »» Watch CGTN «« Washington, DC (and greater area) • MHz - Channel 3 • COMCAST (Xfinity) - Channel 273 • FIOS - Channel 277 New York City • Time Warner - Channel 134 • FiOS (Verizon) - Channel 277 Los Angeles • Charter Cable - Channel 562 • Time Warner - Channel 155 Satellite Nationwide • DISH TV - Channel 279

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload, destined for the exterior of the space station, will study the physics of neutron stars, providing new insight into their nature and behavior. These stars are called “pulsars” because of the unique way they emit light – in a beam similar to a lighthouse beacon. As the star spins, the light sweeps past us, making it appear as if the star is pulsing. Neutron stars emit X-ray radiation, enabling the NICER technology to observe and record information about their structure, dynamics and energetics. The payload also includes a technology demonstration called the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT) which will help researchers to develop a pulsar-based space navigation system. Pulsar navigation could work similarly to GPS on Earth, providing precise position and time for spacecraft throughout the solar system. The 2-in-1 mission is scheduled to launch on June 1, 2017, at 5:55 p.m. EDT aboard SpaceX's eleventh contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station. If successfully launched on June 1, the payload will arrive at the space station in the Dragon spacecraft, along with other cargo, on June 4, 2017. For more information about NICER: https://www.nasa.gov/nicer For technical information about NICER: https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/nicer/ For more information about SEXTANT: http://go.nasa.gov/2kieLxa Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Clare Skelly Music credit: Killer Tracks, Shifting Reality This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/Gallery/NICER.html If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Or subscribe to NASA’s Goddard Shorts HD Podcast: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/iTunes/f0004_index.html Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/ · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard/ · Google+ http://plus.google.com/+NASAGoddard/posts

On May 31, NASA held a briefing at the Kennedy Space Center to preview the science cargo being transported to the International Space Station on the next SpaceX resupply mission to the station. SpaceX is targeting launch of its eleventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for 5:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 1 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Though we know neutron stars are small and extremely dense, there are still many aspects of these remnants of explosive deaths of other stars that we have yet tounderstand. NICER, a facility to be mounted on the outside of the International Space Station, seeks to find the answers to some of the questions still being asked about neutron stars. By capturing the arrival time and energy of the x-ray photons produced by pulsars emitted by neutron stars, NICER seeks answer decades-old questions about extreme forms of matter and energy. Data from NICER will also be used in Sextant, an on-board demonstration of pulsar-based navigation. For more information: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1966.html https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science/ISS Research Overview on nasa.gov http://www.twitter.com/ISS_Research on Twitter. HD download link: https://archive.org/details/Unlocking_Secrets_of_Neutron_Stars_with_NICER

Though we know neutron stars are small and extremely dense, there are still many aspects of these remnants of explosive deaths of other stars that we have yet tounderstand. NICER, a facility to be mounted on the outside of the International Space Station, seeks to find the answers to some of the questions still being asked about neutron stars. By capturing the arrival time and energy of the x-ray photons produced by pulsars emitted by neutron stars, NICER seeks answer decades-old questions about extreme forms of matter and energy. Data from NICER will also be used in Sextant, an on-board demonstration of pulsar-based navigation. For more information: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1966.html https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science Research Overview on nasa.gov http://www.twitter.com/ISS_Research on Twitter. HD download link: https://archive.org/details/Unlocking_Secrets_of_Neutron_Stars_with_NICER

Have you ever wondered how science missions are selected for operation on the International Space Station? What are the technical challenges for building projects that will be operated onboard and why is the ISS important for their success? Join Tony, Harley and Alberto as they discuss the scientific and technical challenges for operating a science-driven payload on the ISS with scientists who are planning, or are currently operating, instruments on the ISS: The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) project, devoted to the study of neutron stars, and the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), which is studying the structure of our Earth’s atmosphere. We hope you can join us live and ask questions or leave comments for our guests! Follow DeepAstronomy on Twitter: @DeepAstronomy Like DeepAstronomy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeepAstronomy/ Like Space Fan News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaceFan/ Follow DeepAstronomy on Google+ http://google.com/+DeepAstronomy http://google.com/+TonyDarnell We also have a great Google+ Community, come share your thoughts and join the discussion! https://plus.google.com/communities/109849939648748938781

Host Jan Vrtilek Speaker Keith Gendreau - Goddard The Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) is an X-ray astrophysics mission of opportunity that will reveal the inner workings of neutron stars, cosmic lighthouses that embody unique gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear-physics environments. NICER achieves this objective by deploying a high-heritage instrument as an attached payload on a zenith-side ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC) aboard the International Space Station (ISS). NICER offers order-of-magnitude improvements in time-coherent sensitivity and timing resolution beyond the capabilities of any X-ray observatory flown to date. Through a cost-sharing opportunity between the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) NICER will also demonstrate how neutron stars can serve as deep-space navigation beacons to guide humankind out of Earth orbit, to destinations throughout the Solar System and beyond. I will overview the NICER mission, discuss our experience working with the ISS, and describe the process of forging a partnership between SMD and STMD.

Keith Gendreau received his PhD in astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995, working on X-ray charge-coupled devices and the cosmic X-ray background with the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics mission. He has been at Goddard Space Flight Center since 1995 and was the calibration lead on the X-ray spectrometer instrument on the ASTRO-E mission. Mr. Gendreau was the NASA scientist on the joint NASA--DARPA X-ray pulsar source--based navigation and timing study, and he is currently the principal investigator of the X-ray Advanced Concepts Test Bed sounding rocket and the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology study. To learn more, please visit: http://appel.nasa.gov/knowledge-sharing/pi-team-masters-forums/