ChinaFocus:China'sEinsteinProbeastronomicalsatellitecapturesitsfirstin-orbitimages_GuangmingOnlineChinaFocus:China'sEinsteinProbeastronomicalsatellitecapturesitsfirstin-orbitimagesThisphotoshowsaviewcapturedbyaWide-fieldX-rayTelescope(WXT)directedatthecenteroftheMilkyWayforaround40,000seconds.(TheNationalSpaceScienceCenteroftheChineseAcademyofSciences/HandoutviaXinhua)BEIJING,April27(Xinhua)--China'sEinsteinProbe(EP)astronomicalsatellite,sentintospaceinJanuarythisyear,hascaptureditsfirstin-orbitdetectionimages,whichwerepresentedataparallelforumofthe2024ZhongguancunForuminBeijingonSaturday.Inspiredbythefunctionsoflobstereyes,EPusesnewX-raydetectiontechnologytoobservemysterioustransientphenomenaintheuniversethatflickerlikefireworks.YuanWeimin,principalinvestigatoroftheEPmissionandaresearcherattheNationalAstronomicalObservatoriesoftheChineseAcademyofSciences(CAS),saidthatsincetheprobe'slaunchonJan.9thisyear,commissioningtestshavebeenconducted,confirmingthefunctionalityandperformanceoftheEPsatelliteanditsscientificinstruments.Duringitscommissioningphase,EPhasdetected17X-raytransientsand127stellarflares.Thesefindingshaveguidedarangeofground-basedandspace-basedtelescopesinfollow-upobservationsinmultiplewavebands,Yuansaid.PreliminaryanalysisofthedatafromEPandothertelescopeshasconfirmedEP'spotentialtodiscoverdiverseX-raysourcesandevennewtypesofobjects,anditsimportantroleinunveilingtheevolutionoftheuniverseandthestructureofspacetime,Yuanadded."Withgreatefforts,ourteammadethisalmostimpossiblemissionpossible,"Yuansaid.ZhangChen,assistanttoEP'sprincipalinvestigator,saidthattheprobehascapturedX-rayimagesofvariouscelestialbodiesduringitscommissioningphase.TheseobservationshavedemonstratedtheoutstandingcapabilitiesofEP'stwoscientificinstruments:aWide-fieldX-rayTelescope(WXT)tomonitorapanoramaoftheX-raysky,andaFollow-upX-rayTelescope(FXT)toprovideclose-upviewsandpinpointtransientsourcescapturedbytheWXT.EPwillcontinueitsin-orbitcalibrationactivitiesinthecomingmonths,Zhangadded.TheEPmissionisoneofaseriesofspacesciencemissionsledbyCAS.ItisalsoaninternationalcollaborationmissionwithcontributionsfromtheEuropeanSpaceAgency(ESA),theMaxPlanckInstituteforExtraterrestrialPhysics(MPE)inGermany,andtheFrenchspaceagencyCNES.Themissionaimstohelpscientistscapturethefirstlightofsupernovaexplosions,searchforandpinpointX-raysignalsaccompanyinggravitationalwaveevents,anddiscoverdormantblackholesandotherfainttransientandvariablecelestialobjectsinthefarreachesoftheuniverse.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.