This panoramic view of our Milky Way in X-ray light was taken as part of the calibration and test campaign of Einstein Probe in space. During this test observation lasting more than 11 hours, the satellite detected various celestial objects that generate X-rays. Each object is captured as a purple cross due to the way the spacecraft’s novel lobster-eye optics work. The X-ray observations are shown on top of an optical image of the Milky Way created by European Southern Observatory ground-based telescopes.
Einstein Probe’s Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) consists of twelve modules that cover more than 3600 square degrees of the sky. The satellite can capture the full night sky in three orbits around Earth. While monitoring the sky, the mission will spot X-rays from powerful events like supernovas, material falling into black holes or even colliding neutron stars. The Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT) can subsequently zoom in on these objects and provide more detailed information.
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[Image description: An image of the Milky Way galaxy. The background is dark with a slightly brighter band spanning form left to right, overlayed with a darker cloud-like structure. On top of this background roughly twenty purple crosses stand out. They are plus sign shaped and have a bright dot in the middle. One of the crosses is much brighter than the others and located in the upper part of the image. On top of the background and observation crosses, is a grid of squares.]
Credits: EPSC, NAO/CAS; DSS; ESO
