SPS Seminar - Lobster eye X-ray telescopes for past, present and future space observatories

When:  Thursday 15^th April at 14.00

Where:  Microsoft Teams - Online

Speaker:  Charley Feldman – University of Leicester

Hosted by: Hannah Sargeant

Abstract:

Lobster eye X-ray telescopes using Micro Pore Optics (MPOs) are an incredibly light weight and versatile technology and can be used for both astronomical and planetary missions. Although the initial design was suggested in 1979 by Angel, and several individual MPOs had been flown on sounding rockets and on the ISS, the first full lobster eye telescope to be launched was the MIXS instrument on ESA’s BepiColombo mission to Mercury. Now, there are numerous missions being proposed and developed for both planetary and astronomical research. During this talk, I will give a brief overview of the science of these unique optics and the missions, past, present and future that will utilise the technology. This will include, BepiColombo, SVOM, Einstein Probe, SMILE and Theseus – with lots of pretty pictures.