- Einstein Observatory
Einstein Observatory (HEAO-2) was the first fully imaging
X-ray telescope put into space and the second ofNASA 's three High Energy Astrophysical Observatories. Named HEAO B before launch, the observatory's name was changed to honorAlbert Einstein upon its successfully attaining orbit.Observatory and instruments
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 degreesThe 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 object. It had instruments sensitive in the the 0.2 to 3.5 keV energy range. A collection of four focal-plane instruments was installed in the satellite:
* 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,as well as a 1-20 keV Monitor Proportional Counter (MPC), a Broad Band Filter Spectrometer (BBFS), and an objective grating spectrometer (OGS).
The Einstein Observatory satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up on March 25, 1982.
See also
*
HEAO Program External links
* [http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/einstein/heao2.html Einstein Observatory (HEAO-2)]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
