Einstein Probe Detects Mysterious Blast of X-Rays From the Early Universe

by DTM | Posted on
This image is a horizontal rectangle, with a representation of the Einstein Probe spacecraft in the middle. The spacecraft has a golden colour and looks like multiple stacked boxes with dark panels sticking out on either side (solar arrays). On the top right of the image, an explosion is visible as a yellow ball with spikes sticking out of it. A green beam goes from the explosion into the spacecraft. Behind the explosion, the night sky is visible and a yellow high-light represents a window to the far-away Universe with a yellow grid, which is a representation of Einstein Probe’s lobster-eye optics. Behind the spacecraft, Earth is visible as a half globe, in a purple-blue hue. On the bottom of the image, multiple dishes are visible in yellow-green, which represent telescopes on the ground.

The puzzling discovery may force astronomers to rethink the origin of gamma ray bursts.