Astronomy: X Rays from Scorpio

Ever since 1949, when X rays from the sun were first detected, astronomers have been probing the skies for other X-ray sources outside the solar system. Their search was not rewarded until 1962, when more sensitive instruments picked up the first X-ray emissions from outside the solar system. But until this year, only one additional visible object had been definitely identified as an X-ray producer: the familiar Crab Nebula.* Though their relatively crude instruments sensed X rays from about two dozen other vaguely defined areas of the sky, astronomers have been un able to tell which, if any, of...

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