SPring-8

Stories

Japanese-U.S. team demonstrates X-ray telescope sharp enough for CubeSats, challenging billion-dollar observatory model

As of May 2026: Provided 1-km beamline for mirror testing

For a quarter century, NASA's Chandra has dominated X-ray astronomy: a bus-sized, $1.65 billion observatory with mirrors 1.2 meters across. Now a team from Nagoya University and Japan's SPring-8 synchrotron has produced a single seamless 60-millimeter nickel mirror that matches Chandra's core sharpness — resolving an object 3.5 millimeters wide from a kilometer away.

Updated May 31