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Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope

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Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope
Rendering of HXMT
Mission typeAstronomy
OperatorCAS / IHEP
COSPAR ID2017-034A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.42758[1]
Websitehttp://www.hxmt.org/
Mission durationElapsed: 7 years, 4 months, 29 days[2]
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass2,800 kg (6,200 lb)[2]
Dimensions2.0 × 2.0 × 2.8 m (6.6 × 6.6 × 9.2 ft)[2]
Start of mission
Launch dateJune 14, 2017, 03:00:00 (2017-06-14UTC03) UTC [2]
RocketLong March 4B[2]
Launch site603 Launch Pad of the LC43 Launch Complex, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric[1]
RegimeLow Earth[1]
Semi-major axis6,920 km (4,300 mi)[1]
Eccentricity0.0006597[1]
Perigee altitude545 km (339 mi)[1]
Apogee altitude554.1 km (344.3 mi)[1]
Inclination43.0°[1]
Period95.5 minutes[1]
Mean motion15.079 rev/day[1]
Epoch2017-06-22 11:32:39 UTC[1]
The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) launch by CZ-4B rocket

Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) also known as Insight (Chinese: 慧眼)[3] is a Chinese X-ray space observatory, launched on June 15, 2017[2] to observe black holes, neutron stars, active galactic nuclei and other phenomena based on their X-ray and gamma-ray emissions.[4] It is based on the JianBing 3 imagery reconnaissance satellite series platform.

The project, a joint collaboration of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University, has been under development since 2000.

Payload

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The main scientific instrument is an array of 18 NaI(Tl)/CsI(na) slat-collimated "phoswich" scintillation detectors, collimated to 5.7°×1° overlapping fields of view.[5] The main NaI detectors have an area of 286 cm2 each, and cover the 20–200 keV energy range. Data analysis is planned to be by a direct algebraic method, "direct demodulation",[6] which has shown promise in de-convolving the raw data into images while preserving excellent angular and energy resolution.

The satellite has three payloads, the high energy X-ray Telescope (20–250 keV), the medium energy X-ray telescope (5–30 keV), and the low energy X-ray telescope (1–15 keV)[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k HXMT (HUIYAN)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rui C. Barbosa (14 June 2017). "China launches X-ray telescope via Long March 4B". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  3. ^ "China launches space telescope to search for black holes, pulsars - Xinhua | English.news.cn". news.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Andrew Jones. "Tiangong-2 to launch next week in step towards Chinese space station". gbtimes.com. Sep 8, 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19.
  5. ^ HXMT.cn, Configuration Archived July 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (Hard X-ray telescope design) c.2004
  6. ^ HXMT.cn, The direct demodulation method Archived July 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (Imaging by direct deconvolution) c.2004
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