EXOSAT
EXOSAT | |
---|---|
Type: | Research satellite |
Operator: | ESA |
COSPAR-ID : | 1983-051A |
Mission dates | |
Dimensions: | 510 kg |
Size: | 3.2 x 2.1 m |
Begin: | May 26, 1983 |
Starting place: | Vandenberg AFB , SLC-2W |
Launcher: | Delta 3914 |
Status: | burned up |
Orbit data | |
Rotation time : | 90.6 h |
Orbit inclination : | 72.5 ° |
Apogee height : | 191,510 km |
Perigee height : | 583 km |
EXOSAT ( E uropean X -Ray O bservatory Sat ellite ) was the first X-ray - Observatory of the European Space Agency ESA . The main contractor was the German company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB).
EXOSAT was supposed to be the first science satellite to be launched with the then new European rocket Ariane 1 . However, on May 26, 1983, it started with a Delta 3914 rocket from the Vandenberg space station in the USA into a highly eccentric earth orbit between 347 km and 191,709 km altitude and 72.5 ° equatorial inclination. The circulation time was 90.6 hours. EXOSAT was in operation until the position control failed on April 9, 1986 and re-entered the earth's atmosphere on May 6, 1986, where it burned up.
EXOSAT had three identically aligned instruments for the energy ranges 0.05–2.5 keV , 2–20 keV and 1–50 keV. The special orbit made long, uninterrupted observations of changing objects possible. Coverings of X-ray sources by the moon were used to localize them more precisely and to be able to determine their structure better than in the telescope resolution.
EXOSAT discovered quasi-periodic fluctuations in brightness in X-ray binary stars and made a total of 1,780 observations of X-ray sources such as active galactic nuclei , the coronae of stars, white dwarfs , variable stars , galaxy clusters and supernova remnants .
Web links
- ESA: EXOSAT (English)
- NASA: EXOSAT (English)
- PDF (64 kB) PDF from ESA via EXOSAT ( Memento from October 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (189 kB)