The Soft Frame

They appear where Chandra looks softest and vanish when the energy climbs.

Eighty-four of them in six galaxies — Andromeda, the Pinwheel, four ellipticals — already sitting in the public archive.

Long exposures caught the thin edge. The bright ultraviolet the press wants is the part the gas between stars swallows.

Hypersoft arrived late. I keep the soft frame and the empty harder ones.