{"id":255709,"date":"2025-07-23T23:23:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/goddard\/nasa-jaxa-xrism-satellite-x-rays-milky-ways-sulfur\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T23:23:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:23:23","slug":"nasa-jaxa-xrism-satellite-x-rays-milky-ways-sulfur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=255709","title":{"rendered":"NASA, JAXA XRISM Satellite X-rays Milky Way\u2019s Sulfur"},"content":{"rendered":"
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4 min read<\/p>\n

NASA, JAXA XRISM Satellite X-rays Milky Way\u2019s Sulfur<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

An international team of scientists have provided an unprecedented tally of elemental sulfur spread between the stars using data from the Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft.<\/p>\n

Astronomers used X-rays from two\u00a0binary star systems<\/a>\u00a0to detect sulfur in the interstellar medium, the gas and dust found in the space between stars. It\u2019s the first direct measurement of both sulfur\u2019s gas and solid phases, a unique capability of X-ray spectroscopy, XRISM\u2019s (pronounced \u201ccrism\u201d) primary method of studying the cosmos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSulfur is important for how cells function in our bodies here on Earth, but we still have a lot of questions about where it\u2019s found out in the universe,\u201d said L\u00eda Corrales, an assistant professor of astronomy at the\u00a0University of Michigan<\/a>\u00a0in Ann Arbor. \u201cSulfur can easily change from a gas to a solid and back again. The XRISM spacecraft provides the resolution and sensitivity we need to find it in both forms and learn more about where it might be hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n

A paper about these results, led by Corrales,\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0June 27 in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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