Einstein Observatory

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This article is about the X-ray telescope. For the gravitational wave detector, see Einstein Telescope.
Einstein Observatory
File:Heao b.jpg
Einstein Observatory
Mission type Astronomy
Operator NASA
COSPAR ID 1978-103A
SATCAT № 11101
Website Einstein Observatory at NASA.gov
Mission duration 4 years
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer TRW
Dry mass 3,130 kilograms (6,900 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date 13 November 1978, 05:24 (1978-11-13UTC05:24) UTC
Rocket Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-36B
End of mission
Last contact 17 April 1981 (1981-04-18)
Decay date 26 May 1982
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 465 kilometres (289 mi)
Apogee 476 kilometres (296 mi)
Inclination 23.5°
Period 94.0 minutes

Einstein Observatory (HEAO-2) was the first fully imaging X-ray telescope put into space and the second of NASA's three High Energy Astrophysical Observatories. Named HEAO B before launch, the observatory's name was changed to honor Albert Einstein upon its successfully attaining orbit.[1] [2]

Launch

The Einstein Observatory, HEAO-2, was launched on November 13, 1978, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an Atlas-Centaur SLV-3D booster rocket into a near-circular orbit with an initial altitude slightly above 500 km. Its orbital inclination orbit was 23.5 degrees. The Einstein Observatory satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up on March 25, 1982.[3]

Instrumentation

The Einstein Observatory carried a single large grazing-incidence focusing X-ray telescope that provided unprecedented levels of sensitivity (hundreds of times better than previously achieved) and arc-second angular resolution of point sources and extended objects. It had instruments sensitive in the 0.2 to 3.5 keV energy range. A collection of four focal-plane instruments was installed in the satellite: [4]

  • HRI, or High Resolution Imaging camera, 0.15-3 keV
  • IPC, or Imaging Proportional Counter, 0.4 to 4 keV
  • SSS, or Solid State Spectrometer, 0.5 to 4.5 keV
  • FPCS, or Bragg Focal Plane Crystal Spectrometer
  • MPC, Monitor Proportional Counter, 1-20 keV
  • BBFS, Broad Band Filter Spectrometer
  • OGS, Objective grating spectrometer

References

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See also

External links


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