【T. D. Lee Colloquium No. 15】Current and near-future space high energy astrophysics missions of China
by
TDLI
In this talk I will briefly introduce several on-going and near-future space X-ray astronomy missions of China: 1) Insight-HXMT X-ray mission, launched on June 15th, 2017, mostly on X-ray binaries and GRBs; 2) GECAM, launched on December 10th of 2020, small satellites on GRBs and other transients with full sky coverage from several keV to MeV; 3) EP, launched on January 9th 2024, carrying many wide FoV lobster-eye X-ray telescopes and two narrow FoV X-ray follow-up telescopes, mostly on tidal disruption events, GRBs and many other transients; 4) SVOM, to be launched on June 22 2024, carrying optical and X-ray telescopes, a wide FoV hard X-ray imager and three gamma-ray monitors, mostly on GRBs and other transients; 5) CATCH, a proposed large constellation of small satellites carrying light-weight focusing X-ray telescopes, to follow and characterize many transients simultaneously, with the first path-finder satellite to be launched with SVOM; 6) POLAR-2, the successor of POLAR operated on China’s Tianggong-2 spacelab in 2016, to be placed onboard China’s Space Station in 2027, carrying GRB polarimeters covering several keV to several hundred keV energy range with spectroscopic and localization capabilities; 7) HERD, a large cosmic-ray experiment to be onboard China’s Space Station for operation from around 2027, with unprecedented acceptance and energy range for direct measurements of cosmic-rays, electrons and gamma-rays in space; 8) eXTP, enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission, a large X-ray observatory studying neutron stars, black holes and many high energy explosions, developed by a large Sino-European consortium for launch around 2029, carrying large arrays of X-ray timing, spectroscopy and polarimetry telescopes, as well as a wide field monitor.
Current Position (since 2009): Director of Particle Astrophysics Division, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Education and previous professional experience: Bachelor degree from Tsinghua University (1984); PhD degree from Southampton University, UK (1989); Postdoc at University of Pennsylvania, USA (1989-1992). Senior scientist of Universities Space Research Association at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (1992-1998); Faculty member of University of Alabama at Huntsville (1998-2002); Distinguished professor of Tsinghua University (2002-2009); Director of Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2002-2024); Chief scientist of Space Science Division, National Astronomical Observatories of China (2010-2024).
His research interests cover most areas in high energy astrophysics, as well as cosmology and general relativity. He is the PI of several space experiments/missions of China, including POLAR (and also POLAR-2), HXMT (since 2016), eXTP and HERD, and the Chinese Co-PI of SVOM. He is also an initial proposer and serves as a science advisor to several space missions, including GECAM, EP and CATCH. He also serves as the chief scientist of the panel on space astronomy and astrophysics of China’s Manned Space Flight program. He has authored and co-authored more than 500 refereed publications with more than 16000 citations. His H-index is 58.
Tencent Meeting Link: https://meeting.tencent.com/dm/rdk8eCyUEhF7
Meeting ID: 477 460 318 (no password)
