Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor
Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) (Chinese: 引力波暴高能电磁对应体全天监测器) is a space observatory composed of a constellation of two X-ray and gamma-ray all-sky observing small satellites, called GECAM A (aka KX 08A or Xiaoji, COSPAR 2020-094A) and GECAM B (aka KX 08B or Xiaomu, COSPAR 2020-094B), for research in electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves (GWs). It was launched on 9 December 2020 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 20:14 UTC by a Long March 11 rocket. GECAM will focus on detecting electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves. In addition to signals from GWs, the observatory studies Ultra-long GRBs, X-ray Flashes, X-ray-rich GRBs, Magnetars and Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes.[1][2][3]
References
- "China plans to launch new space science satellites". The State Council, Th ePeople's Republic of China. November 27, 2020.
- "China launches GECAM all-sky scanner to study extreme cosmic events". Physics World. December 10, 2020.
- https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/gecam.htm