According to the LA Times, NASA will be launching a new telescope expected to bring black holes and supernovae into unprecedented focus, mission scientists announced Wednesday.
The telescope works by having highly reflective, double-coated mirrors focus light onto detectors some 10 meters away. The X-rays will reflect only if they bounce off the mirrors at a grazing angle — almost parallel to the X-rays themselves. The mirrors and detectors are connected by a 10-meter-long bridge that will unfold once the telescope is in orbit around Earth.
The telescope works by having highly reflective, double-coated mirrors focus light onto detectors some 10 meters away. The X-rays will reflect only if they bounce off the mirrors at a grazing angle — almost parallel to the X-rays themselves. The mirrors and detectors are connected by a 10-meter-long bridge that will unfold once the telescope is in orbit around Earth.