Mission concept · Astrophysics Observatories · Under study

Athena

ESA's next great X-ray observatory — designed to study the hot, energetic universe, from the gas that binds galaxy clusters to the black holes that shaped galaxies, at far higher sensitivity than today's X-ray telescopes.

Astrophysics Observatories ESA

Highlights

›Europe's next flagship X-ray observatory

Mission goals

›Study the hot and energetic universe in X-rays
›Map the hot gas of galaxy clusters and the growth of black holes

Technology

A large X-ray telescope with a high-resolution imaging spectrometer.

Status & uncertainties

Reformulated ('NewAthena') to fit a reduced cost envelope; adoption and launch date are not yet fixed.

Knowledge connections

Member of groupAstrophysics Observatories
Associated withESA

Sources

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

ESAEuropean Space Agency
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.

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