ISLAMABAD: Beijing plans to launch a new X-ray astronomical satellite namely Einstein Probe, at the end of this year.
Principal investigator of the satellite project Yuan Weimin revealed the projects at the 35th National Symposium on Space Exploration organized recently.
He said that the satellite has entered the last stage of development. The probe is likely to capture the first light from supernova explosions, assist in the search for gravitational wave sources, as well as observe the peculiar transient phenomena in the universe.
Scientists have found that there are many explosive and transient sources in the universe, most of which can radiate great amounts of energy in a very short time and show complicated brightness variations in the X-ray band, like black holes that are devouring stars.
Satellite aims to acquire further knowledge
He added that these fast transient sources are vital to cosmology and the study of galaxies, but are poorly understood by scientists.
He said that further research needs a new generation of detection equipment with extremely vast fields of view, high resolution, high sensitivity, and fast response capabilities.
But the big question in this regard is how to develop such equipment.
Biologists found early on that the eye of the lobster is different from other animals. Lobster eyes are made up of numerous small square tubes, in the direction of the same spherical center. This structure allows light from all sides to reflect in the tubes and converge on the retina, which makes the lobster capable of seeing a large field of view.
Scientists then simulated the lobster eye to develop a telescope to detect X-rays in space. But the experiments are still underway and scientists are trying to make better equipment.
