A new space telescope launching in January 2024 will look at the universe through a revolutionary “lobster eye”, looking for X-ray bursts from some of the universe’s most powerful events, such as the feeding of black holes and the collision of neutron stars. exploding stars.
not named for anyone else Albert EinsteinThe Einstein Probe is a joint effort between two scientists. European Space Agency (ESA), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
This spacecraft will have extremely sensitive, next-generation X-ray instruments and provide an exceptionally wide field of view, allowing scientists to both detect new events and study them in detail.
“The universe is our only laboratory investigating the most energetic processes,” said Erik Kuulkers, ESA’s Einstein Probe project scientist. he said in a statement. “Missions like the Einstein Probe are essential to advance our understanding of these processes and learn more about fundamental aspects of high-energy physics.”
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Detecting the most violent events in the universe
X-rays are emitted by powerful, violent events such as supernovae and are ejected from the cores of dying stars as they collapse. They are directly connected to star material that breaks apart before being consumed by them. black holes as well as collisions of extremely dense, already dead stars called neutron stars.
But because these violent cosmic events are usually short-lived, the X-ray light they emit can be highly variable and unpredictable. This light can appear and disappear incredibly quickly, brighten and darken, often appear in the sky for only a short time, and then disappear for long periods of time – if they ever reappear.
Detecting these X-rays is highly desirable for scientists because encoded within this high-energy light is information about the source that produced it. This means that by observing X-rays, the Einstein Probe could help scientists unravel such events while also allowing astronomers to locate new X-ray sources.
Because neutron star collisions produce both X-rays and gravity waves — first predicted by Einstein in his theory in 1915. gravity general relativity — The Einstein Probe could help gravitational wave detectors find the source of these tiny waves. space–time Those that have traveled across millions, even billions of light years.
This could ultimately help scientists observe these collisions before they disappear, revealing more information about the dynamics of these collision events and the unique physics occurring around them. For example, it is known that heavy elements such as gold are formed after death. neutron star collisions.
Why ‘lobster eye’?
To realize his pioneering vision UniverseThe Einstein Probe is equipped with two revolutionary instruments: the Wide Field X-ray Telescope (WXT) and the highly sensitive Tracking X-ray Telescope (FXT).
WXT gets its expanded view of the cosmos from its unique modular design that resembles a lobster’s eye. Lobster eyes, unlike other animal eyes, have evolved to detect light through reflection rather than refraction; This means that these crustaceans have an extraordinary 180-degree field of vision.
WXT’s so-called “Micropore Optical technology” allows the Einstein Probe to see 3,600 square degrees, covering 10% of the entire celestial sphere on Earth, in just one image. This allows you to see almost all of it. night sky on Soil It has only three orbits around the planet, each of which will take the Einstein Probe approximately 96 minutes to complete.
When an interesting or new X-ray emission phenomenon is detected by WXT, Einstein Probe’s FXT instrument will step in and target the X-ray source and study it in much more detail.
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In addition, when WXT makes a notable X-ray detection, the Einstein probe will send a signal to ground-based observatories, allowing them to train other telescopes on the source and study it in the low-light range of frequencies. -from high-energy longwave radio waves to high-energy shortwave gamma rays.
These multiwavelength data can be absolutely vital in conducting detailed studies. supernovaeneutron star collisions and feeding of black holes.
“Thanks to its innovative design, Einstein Probe can monitor large areas of the sky at a glance,” Kuulkers said. he added. “In this way, we can discover many new sources, as well as study the behavior of X-ray light from known celestial objects over long periods.”