The newest X-ray telescope in space, aptly named after the most famous physicist of all time, is poised to unravel the mysteries of nature's most extreme phenomena.
The Einstein probe, an X-ray telescope managed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be launched next month. The detector will look for transient events in X-rays and try to answer some fundamental questions about black holes and gravitational waves.
Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer, and Webb. There is no doubt that these are all iconic names, but now, in a long-awaited development, we finally have a space telescope named after the famous German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.
The Einstein probe was built in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. In return for their contribution (in terms of hardware and scientific advice), ESA will receive 10% of the data from the probe, according to a press release from ESA.
Einstein carried two scientific instruments: a wide-field X-ray telescope (WXT) and a follow-up X-ray telescope (FXT). The former uses the new "lobster-eye" optical system to acquire data in the vast sky;The latter scrutinizes specific objects found in WXT's comprehensive observation of the universe.
The lobster ophthalmic device means that the WXT receives X-rays in a square tube in a grid, similar to the parallel square holes of a lobster. Using this technology, the Einstein probe will be able to observe 3,600 square degrees (just under a tenth of the celestial sphere) in a single shot, according to ESA. In three 96-minute Earth orbits, the probe can photograph almost the entire night sky.
The Einstein probe will be launched on a Long March rocket from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The expected duration of the mission is three years. Over the course of its life, the probe is expected to collect data that will reveal a number of cosmic phenomena, including the frequencies of black holes in the universe and their physical properties (including their feeding properties and the massive jets of energetic matter they provide energy with).
The probe will also study stars and gravitational waves that become supernovae, including black holes and neutron stars. When a noteworthy event is discovered, Einstein will send alarm signals to other telescopes, helping scientists collect as much data as possible about fleeting phenomena.
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