NASA sounding rocket mission to observe remnants of an exploded star

The High-Resolution Microcalorimeter X-ray Imaging (Micro-X) experiment is all set to launch this weekend aboard a NASA-funded sounding rocket to observe the remnants of an exploded star.

The mission will uncover new details about the eruption event while testing X-ray detector technologies for future missions. The experiment will launch on August 21 from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Cassiopeia A, the expanding debris of an exploded star that lies some 11,000 light-years away from Earth, off the edge of the W-shaped constellation known as Cassiopeia. Cas A marks the site of a brilliant stellar death and is one of the most well-studied objects in the night sky.

According to NASA, sounding rockets make brief, 15-minute forays into space before falling back to the ground. Once in space, Micro-X will have about five minutes to observe Cas A, focusing on its X-ray light. Cosmic X-rays are absorbed by our atmosphere and so are only detectable from space.

"The X-ray energy spectrum is like a fingerprint revealing the composition, history, and state of the gas and ejecta from the explosion. Like forensic evidence, it gives us clues of how the death of the star came about," said Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano, a professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University in Illinois and principal investigator for the Micro-X mission.

About 11,000 light-years away from Earth, a star exploded and scattered its material across some 13 light-years of space.To learn about the star’s history, a new NASA sounding rocket mission hopes to map its remnants using new X-ray technology: https://t.co/H3pK31NZEu pic.twitter.com/hc8i61T3gZ

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) August 18, 2022

Micro-X first launched on July 23, 2018, but it was unable to point accurately at Cas A during its observation period. For the upcoming re-flight, Figueroa-Feliciano and his team have increased Micro-X's resolution two-fold, NASA said.