Speaker
Description
The Einstein Probe (EP) is a space X-ray observatory designed to detect mainly high-energy transient and variable sources in the universe. It features a lobster-eye wide-field X-ray monitor with unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution in the soft X-ray band, and a conventional X-ray telescope to perform quick onboard follow-up observations. The Einstein Probe is a project led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with ESA, MPE and CNES. EP was launched on January 9, 2024. Till July, the satellite has completed the commissioning and in-orbit calibrations. Since then, EP has started the nominal science operations. This talk will present the mission, the instrument performance and some preliminary science results of the transient and variable sources detected. The scientific potential of EP in the context of time-domain astrophysics will be briefly discussed.
