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ASCA
 |
| The ASCA Spacecraft (credit: ISAS and NASA GSFC) |
| Organization |
ISAS, NASA |
| Wavelength regime |
X-ray |
| Orbit Height |
500-600 km |
| Orbit period |
95 min |
| Launch date |
20 February 1993 |
| Deorbit date |
2 March 2001 |
| Mass |
420 kg |
| Webpage |
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/asca/ |
| Physical Characteristics |
| Telescope Style |
Wolter telescope - paired grazing incidence hyperbolic and parabolic foil mirrors |
| Diameter |
1.2m |
| Collecting Area |
1300 cm² @ 1 keV, 600 cm² @ 7 keV |
| Effective Focal Length |
3.5 m |
| Instruments |
| XRT |
X-ray telescopes (4) |
| GIS |
Imaging Spectrometer |
| SIS |
Imaging Spectrometer |
ASCA (formerly named ASTRO-D) was Japan's fourth cosmic X-ray astronomy mission, and the second for which the United States provided part of the scientific payload. The satellite was successfully launched February 20, 1993. After 8 years of observation, its altitude control was lost in 2000, and it re-entered to atmosphere in 2001.
[edit] Highlights
- Broad Fe lines from AGN, probing the strong gravity near the central engine
- Lower than solar Fe abundance in the coronae of active stars
- Spectroscopy of interacting binaries
- Non-thermal X-rays from SN 1006, a site of Cosmic Ray acceleration
- Abundances of heavy elements in clusters of galaxies, consistent with type II supernova origin
[edit] External links
