... The Space Shuttle Discovery's orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engine firing produced this dramatic flare as it cruised "upside down" in low Earth orbit. ... Just like our own Milky Way Galaxy, the nearest major galaxy M31 has many star systems spewing high energy radiation. ... The strongest source of X-rays in the Large Magellanic Cloud originates from an unusually energetic binary star system. ... Gas stripped of the normal star falls onto the compact star, heats up, and emits X-rays. ...