The most extensive X-ray map of the cosmos reveals more than 700,000 supermassive black holes.

To the general public, the term ‘X-ray’ is commonly associated with bones. When people are told to take an X-ray, what comes to their mind is to look at their bones on a black film. But as far as astronomers are concerned, X-rays are a treasure trove of space knowledge. An object that is optically transparent in ‘normal’ light wavelengths may glow in X-rays and thus reveal its own secrets.

X-ray astronomy is a relatively old branch of the astronomical science that employs individuals who build their careers in the sphere. More recently, the biggest X-ray map of the universe has been revealed to the public. This map shows more than 700000 supermassive black holes and over 900000 high-energy cosmic sources.

This data was provided by the German consortium called “eROSITA”. The X-ray map was generated using the eROSITA X-ray telescope data obtained from the Spektrum-RG satellite which is a Russian-German spacecraft.

It was recently stated by the Max Planck Society in Germany, which has been a major participant in the mission that the eROSITA All-Sky Survey Catalogue (eRASS1) is the largest collection of X-ray sources ever released.

”The first eROSITA all-sky survey release provides an X-ray picture of half of the sky revealing the largest sample of active galactic nuclei. ” according to a post by the Max Planck Society.

In the first six months of observation, eROSITA detected a number of X-ray sources that is higher than have been reported in the entire history of X-ray astronomy, which spans more than 60 years. All these observations were made using eROSITA telescope between 12 December 2019 and 11 June 2020.

The discoveries include 710,000 supermassive black holes, 915,000 sources of all high energy, and 180,000 stars with X-ray emissions which belong to the Milky Way. Moreover, there are 12,000 galaxy clusters on that map as well as other unique types of objects, emitting X-rays in the celestial space.

The head of the eROSITA venture, principal investigator Dr. Andrea Merloni stated:, “These figures are truly remarkable for X-ray astronomy,” according to The Max Planck Society.

She also went on to say, “In half a year of surveying we have identified more sources than any other major missions have in 25 years of operation of XMM-Newton or Chandra.