EXOSAT
The Exosat satellite was operational from May 1983 until April 1986 and in that time made 1780 observations in the X-ray band of most classes of astronomical object including active galactic nuclei, stellar coronae, cataclysmic variables, white dwarfs, X-ray binaries, clusters of galaxies, and supernova remnants. The payload consisted of three instruments that produced spectra, images and light curves in various energy bands.
This ESA satellite for direct-pointing and lunar-occultation observation of X-ray sources beyond the solar system was launched into a highly eccentric orbit (apogee 200,000 km, perigee 500 km) almost perpendicular to that of the moon on May 26, 1983. The instrumentation includes two low-energy imaging telescopes (LEIT) with Wolter I X-ray optics (for the 0.04-2 keV energy range), a medium-energy experiment using Ar/CO2 and Xe/CO2 detectors (for 1.5-50 keV), a Xe/He gas scintillation spectrometer (GSPC) (covering 2-80 keV), and a reprogrammable onboard data-processing computer. Exosat is capable of observing an object (in the direct-pointing mode) for up to 80 hours and of locating sources to within at least 10 arcsec with the LEIT and about 2 arcsec with GSPC.[1]
References
- ↑ Hoff HA (1983). "EXOSAT - The new extrasolar X-ray observatory". J Brit Interplan Soc. (Space Chronicle). 36 (8): 363–7. Unknown parameter
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External links
- ESA's X-ray Observatory (EXOSAT at ESTEC, ESA) on the internet
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