A team using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory reported 84 'hypersoft X-ray sources' in six galaxies. The objects produce lower-energy X-rays than familiar X-ray binaries and may emit intense ultraviolet radiation. A leading interpretation is that they are binary systems containing an accreting black hole, neutron star or white dwarf.
The objects' nature has not been established. Researchers suggest the population could help investigate possible Type Ia supernova progenitors and the ionisation of interstellar gas, but both links remain hypotheses. Follow-up observations are needed to separate the proposed explanations.
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