The launch of the main scientific program of the Spektr-RG space observatory has been postponed. This was reported by TASS, citing information received from the leadership of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAS).
The successful launch of the Spektr-RG apparatus, we recall, was in July this year. On October 21, after a trajectory correction maneuver, the observatory entered its nominal working orbit around the L2 Lagrange point of the Sun–Earth system. A halo orbit has already been formed, which will be maintained throughout the life of the spacecraft.
It was assumed that the implementation of the main scientific program of the observatory in the mode of review of the celestial sphere will start on November 3. However, now it is reported that the experts decided to extend the testing of onboard equipment. Therefore, the start of the main mission is postponed to December.
The observatory is equipped with two oblique-incidence X-ray telescopes: the Russian instrument ART-XC and the eRosita instrument, made in Germany. Not so long ago, the eRosita telescope received the first images: it captured a section of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy in the direction of the Tarantula Nebula, and also performed a survey of the "ridge" of the Galaxy.
ART-XC and eRosita calibrations are ongoing. “The Spektr-RG observatory is already operating in its maximum configuration and the characteristics of the telescopes allow solving ambitious tasks in the field of cosmology, studying the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes, the physics of galaxy clusters, neutron stars, supernova remnants and stars with active coronas,” — scientists say.
Source: 3dnews.ru