"NuSTAR" Telescope, Shows the Sun Blasting Out X-Rays

Pop Quiz, Hotshot: What do you Get When you Heat Gas Above 3 Million Degrees Celsius ? High-Energy X-Rays, of Course -- just the Kind that NuSTAR was Launched to Detect. The Space Telescope Took a Break from Hunting Black Holes to Snap its 1st-Ever Shot of the Sun. When that X-Ray Image (Blue and Green) is Overlaid onto an Infrared Photo from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (in Orange), it Shows How X-Rays Relate to High-Temperature Solar Activity like Flares and Sunspots. Scientists Want to Figure Out Why the Sun's Corona (Outer Atmosphere) is 1 Million Degrees Celsius, while the Surface is a Mere 6,000 Degrees Celsius -- a Discrepancy that's Like a "flame coming out of an ice cube", according to NASA. Though it Might Sound Risky to Point the World's Most Sensitive High-Energy X-Ray Telescope at the Sun, it's actually Quite Safe -- our Star Emits Plenty of X-Rays but, Very Few of the High-Energy Type.




Info Sources:

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/nustar/sun-sizzles-in-high-energy-x-rays/#.VJqRBF4AAA

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/22/nasa-x-ray-sun-nustar-space-telescope_n_6368026.html