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Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope

X-ray space observatory

Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope

Rendering of HXMT
Mission type	Astronomy
Operator	CAS / IHEP
COSPAR ID	2017-034A
SATCAT no.	42758[1]
Website	http://www.hxmt.org/
Mission duration	Elapsed: 7 years, 21 days[2]
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass	2,800 kg (6,200 lb)[2]
Dimensions	2.0 × 2.0 × 2.8 m (6.6 × 6.6 × 9.2 ft)[2]
Start of mission
Launch date	June 14, 2017, 03:00:00 (2017-06-14UTC03) UTC [2]
Rocket	Long March 4B[2]
Launch site	603 Launch Pad of the LC43 Launch Complex, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric[1]
Regime	Low Earth[1]
Semi-major axis	6,920 km (4,300 mi)[1]
Eccentricity	0.0006597[1]
Perigee altitude	545 km (339 mi)[1]
Apogee altitude	554.1 km (344.3 mi)[1]
Inclination	43.0°[1]
Period	95.5 minutes[1]
Mean motion	15.079 rev/day[1]
Epoch	2017-06-22 11:32:39 UTC[1]

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[edit]

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[edit]

• X-ray astronomy
• X-ray astronomy satellite

References[edit]

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Education

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