Researchers found 84 so-called hypersoft X-ray sources in M101, Messier 31, and four elliptical galaxies. This newly-discovered class of objects give off very low-energy X-rays and likely high levels of ultraviolet light. Their existence may help explain questions around Type Ia supernova explosions and the intergalactic medium. These images of the face-on spiral galaxy M101 show X-ray data from Chandra and an optical image from the Hubble Space Telescope.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Muhibullah et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, researchers found mysterious objects that give off unusually low-energy X-rays but intense levels of ultraviolet radiation. One of the galaxies they studied, M101, is pictured here in this image released on Sept. 9, 2026. Astronomers suggest these newly spotted objects in other galaxies may help solve not one, but two long-standing questions in astrophysics.

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Image description: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Muhibullah et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk