Einstein Probe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Artem.G (talk | contribs) at 16:13, 28 December 2023 (wl). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Not to be confused with Einstein Observatory.

The Einstein Probe (EP) is an X-ray space telescope mission by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in partnership with ESA and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) dedicated to time-domain high-energy astrophysics.[1][2] The primary goals are "to discover high-energy transients and monitor variable objects".[3] It will carry two instruments: the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) and the Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT).[4]

FXT has optics adopted from eROSITA, "the mirror module consists of 54 nested Wolter mirrors with a focal length of 1600 mm and an effective area of greater than 300 cm2 at 1.5 keV."[4] WXT has a new optics design, called "lobster-eye", that has wider field of view.[2][4] "Lobster-eye" optics was first tested by by the Lobster Eye Imager for Astronomy (LEIA) mission, launched in 2022.[2][5][6]

The probe weights 1450 kg and is 3-by-3.4 metres.[2]

EP is planned to be launched in January 2024 by Chang Zheng rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China, and will be placed to low Earth orbit.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Einstein Probe in a nutshell". www.esa.int. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Einstein Probe factsheet". www.esa.int. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Einstein Probe Time Domain Astronomical Information Center". ep.bao.ac.cn. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "EinsteinProbe". www.mpe.mpg.de. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Einstein Probe Time Domain Astronomical Information Center". ep.bao.ac.cn. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  6. ^ published, Andrew Jones (November 25, 2022). "China tests novel 'lobster eye' X-ray telescope for observing cosmic events". Space.com.

Further reading

  • Yuan, Weimin; Zhang, Chen; Chen, Yong; Ling, Zhixing (2022). "The Einstein Probe Mission". pp. 1–30. arXiv:2209.09763.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Einstein_Probe&oldid=1192288002"