- ray s ▁from ▁the ▁Sun ▁were ▁detected ▁by ▁the ▁U . S . ▁Naval ▁Research ▁Labor atory ▁Bl oss om ▁experiment ▁on ▁board . ▁An ▁Aer ob ee ▁ 1 5 0 ▁ro cket ▁was ▁launched ▁on ▁June ▁ 1 2 , ▁ 1 9 6 2 ▁and ▁it ▁detected ▁the ▁first ▁X - ray s ▁from ▁other ▁cel est ial ▁sources ▁( S cor pi us ▁X - 1 ). ▁It ▁is ▁now ▁known ▁that ▁such ▁X - ray ▁sources ▁as ▁S co ▁X - 1 ▁are ▁compact ▁stars , ▁such ▁as ▁neut ron ▁stars ▁or ▁black ▁holes . ▁Material ▁falling ▁into ▁a ▁black ▁hole ▁may ▁emit ▁X - ray s , ▁but ▁the ▁black ▁hole ▁itself ▁does ▁not . ▁The ▁energy ▁source ▁for ▁the ▁X - ray ▁emission ▁is ▁gravity . ▁Inf alling ▁gas ▁and ▁dust ▁is ▁he ated ▁by ▁the ▁strong ▁gravit ational ▁fields ▁of ▁these ▁and ▁other ▁cel est ial ▁objects . ▁Based ▁on ▁discover ies ▁in ▁this ▁new ▁field ▁of ▁X - ray ▁astronom y , ▁starting ▁with ▁Sc or pi us ▁X - 1 , ▁Ric c ardo ▁G iac con i ▁received ▁the ▁Nobel ▁Prize ▁in ▁Physics ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 2 . ▁ ▁The ▁largest ▁draw back ▁to ▁ro cket ▁fl ights ▁is ▁their ▁very ▁short ▁duration ▁( just ▁a ▁few ▁minutes ▁above ▁the ▁atmosphere ▁before ▁the ▁ro cket ▁falls ▁back ▁to ▁Earth ) ▁and ▁their ▁limited ▁field ▁of ▁view . ▁A ▁ro cket ▁launched ▁from ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁will ▁not ▁be ▁able