China launched a new astronomical satellite on the 9th, which will use a new detection technology inspired by the lobster eye to capture mysterious phenomena in the universe that appear and disappear like fireworks, revealing the little-known side of the universe. The Einstein probe satellite, launched into space by the Long March 2C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, weighs 1.45 tons and is the size of a large off-road vehicle. It looks like a double petal lotus with 12 petals in full bloom. Yuan Weimin, the chief satellite scientist and researcher of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has been engaged in space astronomy research for more than 30 years, said: "This is the most beautiful satellite I have ever seen. Huapi is 12 wide field X-ray telescopes, and Huarui is two follow-up X-ray telescopes." These telescopes form a space observatory, which will help scientists capture the first ray of light from supernovae, search for and accurately locate the source of gravitational waves, and discover hidden black holes, as well as more distant and weaker celestial bodies and phenomena in the universe. Black holes and gravitational waves are important predictions made by Einstein's theory of general relativity, and satellites are named after them. Yuan Weimin, who grew up looking up at the brilliant Milky Way in the wild universe, said that the starry sky visible to the human eye is quiet and peaceful, but in reality, there are many intense celestial activities in the universe, such as explosions when supermassive stars die, black holes tearing apart and devouring stars, strange neutron stars and black holes colliding and merging with each other... In 1054 AD, astronomers from the Northern Song Dynasty court recorded a supernova explosion event that could compete with the bright moon. Nearly a thousand years later, humans discovered its relics - the Crab Nebula and its neutron stars, which became a significant contribution of China to world astronomical research. "This type of explosive celestial body is part of the composition of the universe, arising from the critical stages of celestial evolution and the formation and evolution of dense celestial bodies. We are still unclear about some of its physical essence and processes. They can serve as probes for cosmology and galaxy research, as well as laboratories for exploring physical laws under extreme conditions. Studying them can help us answer the most basic scientific questions of what the universe is composed of, what physical laws govern its operation, and how the universe begins and ends." Yuan Weimin said. He said that these magical explosive celestial bodies and phenomena often emit X-rays, but X-rays cannot penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. It was not until humans had the ability to send probes into space that they discovered the other side of the universe shining like fireworks in the X-ray band. The explosive celestial bodies and phenomena such as the "lobster eye" in space are usually sudden and unpredictable, known as transient sources. The temporary source that scientists have discovered so far is only the tip of the iceberg in the universe. How can we capture them more? "It's like fishing in a river, we don't know where the fish come from, we can only weave a big net," said satellite payload scientist Ling Zhixing. The wide field X-ray telescope is a "big net" scattered towards the universe, which can observe 1/12 of the entire sky at the same time. The clever petal shaped design allows the detector to look in all directions while being compact and space saving. This type of telescope is a special new type of X-ray telescope developed by scientists inspired by the unique focusing imaging principle of lobster eyes
Edit：He Chuanning Responsible editor：Su Suiyue
Source：Xinhua
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