Einstein Probe detects an X-ray flare from nearby star(phys.org)
49 pointsby wglba month ago5 comments
  • martinpwa month ago
    This threw me at first. There was an NASA X-ray imaging telescope in the late 70s/early 80s called Einstein:

    https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/einstein/heao2.html

    But this is a new Chinese instrument, also an X-ray telescope, also called Einstein:

    https://ep.bao.ac.cn/ep/

    • xioxoxa month ago
      Pedantically, it's Einstein Probe (EP), not Einstein. Confusingly, in Chinese it has another name, Tianguan, commemorating the observation of the supernova which created the Crab Nebula.
    • NoiseBert69a month ago
      Chinese + ESA contributions
      • xioxoxa month ago
        China + ESA + Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) + Centro Nacional de Estudios Espaciales (CNES) contributions
  • gammaratora month ago
    This is not very newsworthy, stellar flares are common and known to emit X-rays.
  • aussieguy1234a month ago
    If measured the way we measure solar flares (M1, X1 etc) what would this one be rated as?
  • ralfhna month ago
    For a second I was really confused about what Epstein had to do with x-rays
    • justarandomnamea month ago
      SAME, I thought there was a bit flip in the files or something.