China's Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT)

[selvaarchi]

Very soon China will be launching their Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT). An article giving some information on it.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136321720.htm

"Many black holes and neutron stars are thought to be hidden in the Milky Way. Since they don't emit visible light, or are covered by dust, only X-ray telescopes can find them.
China will soon launch its first X-ray space telescope, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), with the aim of surveying the Milky Way to observe celestial sources of X-rays.
"Our space telescope has unique capabilities to observe high-energy celestial bodies such as black holes and neutron stars. We hope to use it to resolve mysteries such as the evolution of black holes and the strong magnetic fields of neutron stars," says Zhang Shuangnan, lead scientist of HXMT and director of the Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)."

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[selvaarchi]

HXMT will also be used to detect electromagnetic signals corresponding to the gravitational waves.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136325488.htm

"Since the detection of gravitational waves, scientists have been eager to find electromagnetic signals corresponding to the gravitational waves. This will be an important task for China's space telescope, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), to be launched soon."

[selvaarchi]

More information on the telescope and what they hope to do with it.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136336692.htm

"China will soon launch a space telescope, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), to observe pulsars in the galaxy of Milky Way, according to Chinese scientists.

"We are still not clear about the interior of pulsars," says Zhang Shuangnan, lead scientist of HXMT and director of the Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Current physical laws cannot describe well the substances in the state of a pulsar, since no lab on Earth can create a density as high as a pulsar. So we have to conduct more observations of pulsars," Zhang says."

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[selvaarchi]

It has been launched.

http://gbtimes.com/china/china-launc...-neutron-stars

"China successfully launched its first large space telescope on Thursday morning, which will observe the X-ray emissions black holes, pulsars and gamma-ray bursts.

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), now also known as 'Huiyan' or 'Insight', lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre atop a Long March 4B rocket at 11:00 Beijing time (03:00 UTC).

The 2,800 kg HXMT probe carries three sets of detectors to collect highly energetic x-rays emitted by black holes, neutron stars and other phenomena across a range of 1-250 kiloelectron volts (keV).

The x-rays detected by HXMT will allow scientists at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) to learn about the properties of transient x-ray sources in great detail, as well as the circumstances in which emissions are generated."

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[selvaarchi]

HXMT has sent the 1st batch of data but it take another 5 months of testing before it is operational.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136371768.htm

"China Friday received the first package of data from its x-ray space telescope launched Thursday, according to the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The package of high quality data with a total size of 2.1 gigabytes was received by the remote sensing satellite station in northwest China's Kashgar, before being transferred to the CAS National Space Science Center."

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[selvaarchi]

Scientists express their expectations with the new telescope.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136371060.htm

"China on Thursday launched a space telescope, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), or Insight, to observe black holes, neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and other celestial phenomena.

The result of the wisdom and painstaking efforts of several generations of Chinese scientists, the telescope is expected to push forward the development of space astronomy in China. Scientists from both home and abroad have high expectations of it.

"Before its launch, we could only use second-hand observation data from foreign satellites. It was very hard for Chinese astronomers to make important findings without our own instruments," said Xiong Shaolin, a scientist at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)."

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[selvaarchi]

China has announced that data from the HXMT will be available to scientists from all over the world.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136455692.htm

"China's first X-ray astronomical satellite, launched in mid June, is expected to start regular observation in November and its data will be open to scientists all over the world, say the main designers of the satellite's data system.

The 2.5-tonne Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), dubbed Insight, transmitted to a ground station its first data on its second day in orbit. The data proved to be of good quality, and the telescope detected a gamma-ray burst 10 days after its launch."

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[selvaarchi]

The telescope has completed a five-month on-orbit testing phase successfully

https://gbtimes.com/chinas-x-ray-spa...star-collision

China's first space telescope, the Insight X-ray observatory, has completed a five-month on-orbit testing phase, during which time it joined the global hunt for light from the collision of two neutron stars.

Zhao Jian, deputy director of the system engineering department of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), said at a review meeting on November 28 in Beijing that on-orbit testing had been satisfactorily completed and that most of the indicators exceeded the design targets and completed high-quality on-orbit testing with excellent results.

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), also named Huiyan or 'Insight' upon launch on June 15 this year, was designed to study the properties of transient X-ray sources in great detail and the circumstances in which emissions are generated.

The telescope will now survey the Galactic plane to create a high precision X-ray map of the sky, and in doing could confirm previously undiscovered black holes in the Milky Way, and perhaps even new types of objects.

[selvaarchi]

Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) went operational today

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/201..._136936640.htm

China's first X-ray astronomical satellite, launched in June last year, is put into service for scientific research on Tuesday after finishing in-orbit tests.

It embodies a new phase of China's high-energy astronomy research, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and China National Space Administration.

[selvaarchi]

Chin has used the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) to help with navigation for future deep space exploration.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/201..._138329108.htm

Chinese scientists have conducted experiments on pulsar navigation with an X-ray space telescope, and the technology could be used in future deep space exploration and interplanetary or interstellar travel.

The experiments were conducted on the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), dubbed Insight, which was sent into space on June 15, 2017, to observe black holes, pulsars and gamma-ray bursts, by scientists from the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The positioning accuracy in the experiments reached 10 km, further verifying the feasibility of autonomous navigation of spacecraft by using pulsars, which lays a foundation for future practical application in deep space exploration, said scientists.

An article about the experiments was published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement on Wednesday.

[selvaarchi]

"Insight-HXMT Team Releases New Results on Black Hole and Neutron Star X-ray Binaries"

http://english.cas.cn/head/201910/t2...5_221585.shtml

Scientists with the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) team presented their new results on black hole and neutron star X-ray binaries during a press conference held Oct. 25 at the first China Space Science Assembly in Xiamen.

X-ray binaries are binary stars that emit X-rays and are composed of a normal star and either a neutron star or black hole. The gravity of the very dense neutron star or black hole causes material from the normal star to fall toward it, creating a rapidly rotating accretion disk that emits intense X-ray radiation. X-ray binaries are an important research target for those trying to understand strong gravitational and magnetic fields and matter affected by them.

The Insight-XHMT scientists were able to study quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in black hole X-ray binaries up to 100 keV, an increase from the previous upper limit of 30 keV. They revealed the energy dependence of QPO amplitude and centroid frequency ranges from 1-100 keV. These achievements exceed what was possible with previous satellites and open a new window for black hole studies.