This year on July 13, the German-Russian astrophysical observatory "Spektr-RG" from the Baikonur Cosmodrome was put into operation. Among them is the eROSITA X-ray telescope, developed by German scientists, which will study the universe at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres from Earth for seven years.
The launch of the Proton M carrier with the Spectrum RG observatory onboard took place last Saturday in normal mode at the Baikonur Kazakh Cosmodrome. This was reported by Roscosmos and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). They also stated that the plane would cover a distance of 1.5 million kilometres in three months, according to the plan, and commence operation in the area of the L2-Lagrange point. At this time, the gravity of the earth and the sun is balanced, the earth almost completely darkens the sunlight, and there are no large temperature fluctuations. In other words, the system works in the most stable conditions. The start was initially scheduled for June 21 but was postponed twice. First, one of the telescope's chemical power sources failed, and then the observatory battery posed problems.
"Spectrum-RG" consists of two components — developed by scientists of the Max Planck-designated Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics of the Company in Garching for the eROSITA X-ray telescope and the ART-XC telescope from Russia. With the help of DLR, an international large-scale project is being carried out involving the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Tübingen, Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam. the University Observatory Hamburg and the observatory. Karl remedies in Bamberg. Staff members of the Munich University Observatory and the Astronomical Institute were also involved in the preparation and implementation of the research. Argelander in Bonn. In addition to the Roscosmos Corporation, the Russian partners of the project were the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and, according to S.A. Lavochkina named Association for Science and Production.
The eROSITA telescope ("X-ray study extended by a network of imaging telescopes") consists of seven identical, mirror-aligned mirror modules. Each consists of 54 interleaved, smooth, gold-plated mirrors that collect high-energy photons and point them at X-ray cameras in the centre of the mirror configuration. With a complex piping system, the chambers of the telescope are cooled to a temperature of -90 ° C, whereby their maximum performance is optimal. The German partners have been working on developing the device for almost ten years. Around 90 million euros were spent on development.
"EROSITA's primary scientific goal is to model the structure of the universe on a large scale and determine how its components evolve in space-time, which can help us to discover the secrets of the mysterious dark energy that resonates in the space Expansion of the universe is involved, "said Andrea Merloni, project participant at the Society's Extraterrestrial Physics Institute. Max Planck. He explained, "The clusters of galaxies that follow this structure are filled with millions of degrees of hot gas, and an X-ray telescope is needed to observe this occlusion." ROSITA will cover the entire sky and we will be able to measure enough clusters of galaxies to see their own This, in turn, provides us with information about the amount and possibly the nature of dark energy and dark matter."
It is expected that the studies will take about seven years. After first finding, calibrating and testing, the telescope will make a complete map of the starry sky in six months. The device then scans the sky for four years to detect 100,000 galaxy clusters, several million active black holes, and several rare objects such as isolated neutron stars. After that, the telescope will work for almost three years after the point-observation mode of objects in the universe. Project leader Peter Predehl said creating the telescope was an opportunity to "reveal the secrets of cosmology and the existence of black holes".
"This is the moment when the years of hard work of the entire team is bearing fruit," he said.
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