Scientists from the US and Japan have succeeded in producing an image of high-energy 'hard' X-rays thanks to a manipulation of platinum, marking the first achievement of its kind in astronomical imaging.

Hard X-rays have proved much harder to capture than the lower energy 'soft' versions but a new experimental X-ray telescope produce by Nasa and scientists at the universities of Nagoya in Japan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Maryland, has succeeded with the use of new mirrors and detectors.

InFOCuS (International Focusing Optics Collaboration for u-Crab Sensitivity), as the new telescope has been called, employs state-of-the-art multi-layer mirrors consisting of ultra-thin bands of carbon and platinum.

The bands are positioned at a shallower angle than other X-ray telescopes in order to trap the elusive hard rays.

Although the first image produced by InFOCuS is not absolutely clear, the scientists hope that image quality will improve in line with mirror technology.

"Our new image is a little fuzzy, but it sure looks beautiful to us," Dr Hans Krimm, one of the InFOCuS scientists from Nasa, said in a statement.

InFOCuS was suspended from a balloon in order to capture the monumental image.