X-ray space telescope to focus on black hole research

Beijing: China’s first X-ray observatory will focus on learning about black holes.

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope, a cutting-edge space telescope launched last Thursday, will help scientists better understand the universe, said project insiders.

It is the nation’s first space-based X-ray observatory and is designed to work for at least four years in a low-Earth orbit, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, which oversees China’s space programmes.

The administration said the payload comprised four scientific devices: three X-ray telescopes and a space environmental detector.

Zhao Jian, a space programme official, said the telescope would help scientists study the behaviour of black holes and neutron stars, as well as X-ray radiation.

It would also enable engineers to explore ways of using pulsars as benchmarks for new-generation space navigation technology.

Ma Shijun, chief designer of the programme, said compared with other X-ray observatories in space, the Chinese model had a larger detection area, greater scientific capabilities and a wider field of view.

“Our space telescope has unique capabilities to observe high-energy celestial bodies,” Zhang Shuangnan, lead scientist for the telescope and director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, said.

“We want to use it to resolve mysteries such as the evolution of black holes and the strong magnetic fields of neutron stars.”