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Q:
What is an X-ray telescope? How does it differ from other types
of telescopes?
A:
X-rays do not reflect off mirrors the same way that visible
light does. Because of their high-energy, X-ray photons that
strike a mirror directly will penetrate into the mirror in
much the same way that bullets aimed directly at a surface
will bury themselves in it. Likewise, just as a bullets can
ricochet off a surface when they hit it at a grazing angle,
so too will X-rays ricochet off mirrors if they hit at very
shallow angles, like a stone skipping across the surface of a
pond. These properties mean that X-ray telescopes must be
very different from optical telescopes. Please visit
http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_astro/reflect/reflect.html
for more information.
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