China Successfully Launches the Einstein Probe Satellite
Release time:
2024-01-10
According to the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at 15:03 on January 9, 2024, China successfully launched the Einstein Probe satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center using Long March-2C carrier rocket. The satellite entered its predetermined orbit, marking the success of the launch mission.
The Einstein Probe satellite is China’s first wide-field X-ray astronomy satellite, capable of precisely detecting distant and faint transient sources and explosive celestial events. It is designed to search for X-ray signals from gravitational wave sources and holds significant scientific value in studying the formation, evolution, and merger processes of compact objects such as stars, black holes, and neutron stars.
The satellite employs time-domain astronomical observation methods in the soft X-ray band, enabling high-sensitivity real-time sky surveys. It systematically identifies high-energy transients and cataclysmic celestial events in the universe, monitors the activity of known objects, and explores their nature and physical processes.
The Einstein Probe satellite is equipped with two payloads: a Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) and a Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT). It is the first in the world to extensively apply “lobster-eye” micropore array focusing imaging technology, achieving a sensitivity and spatial resolution improvement of 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. While conducting wide-field detection, it can accurately capture faint high-energy transients and fleeting unknown phenomena in the distant universe, issuing alerts to guide follow-up observations by ground- and space-based telescopes.
This launch marks the 506th flight of the Long March series carrier rockets.
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