Astronomy:List of X-ray space telescopes

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X-ray telescopes are designed to observe the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. X-rays from outer space cannot be observed from the ground due to absorption by the atmosphere, and so x-ray telescopes must be launched into orbit. Their mirrors require a very low angle of reflection (typically 10 arc-minutes to 2 degrees).[1] These are called glancing (or grazing) incidence mirrors. In 1952, Hans Wolter outlined three ways a telescope could be built using only this kind of mirror.[2][3]

Space-borne observatories and instruments

This list contains space-borne observatories as well as X-ray instruments as part of a larger mission, both past, present and in the proposal stage.

Name Launch Notes
Ariel 5 1974
Ariel 6 1979
ASCA 1993
ATHENA 2031 Under development
AGILE 2007
Apollo Telescope Mount 1973 Part of Skylab, operated 1973-1974
Arcus
—
 Proposal, not selected for launch in 2019
ALEXIS 1993
ANS 1974
Astrosat 2015
BeppoSAX 1996
BBXRT 1990
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory 1991
Chandra X-ray Observatory 1999
Constellation-X Observatory
—
 2008 proposal, merged into the International X-ray Observatory proposal
Copernicus 1972
Cos-B 1975
DXS 1993
Einstein Observatory 1978 originally HEAO-2
EP-WXT 2022
eROSITA 2019
EXOSAT 1983
Fermi 2008
Ginga 1987
Granat 1989
Gravity and Extreme Magnetism
—
 2012 proposal
Hakucho 1979
Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope 2017 (HXMT) also known as Insight (Chinese: 慧眼)
HEAO-1 1977
HEAO 3 1979
High Energy Transient Explorer 1996
Hinode 2006
Hinotori 1981 Originally ASTRO-A
Hitomi 2016 Originally ASTRO-H
IXPE 2021
INTEGRAL 2002
International X-ray Observatory
—
 2012 proposal, now part of ATHENA
LOFT
—
 Proposal
Lynx 2036 Study/proposal
Max Valier Sat 2017
MAXI 2009
Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory 2004 Originally Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission[4]
NICER 2017
NuSTAR 2012
OAO-1 1966
ORBIS
—
 Under development
OSO 7 1971
OSO 8 1975
RHESSI 2002
ROSAT 1990
RXTE 1995
SAS-3 1975
SVOM
2024
 Under development
Spektr-RG 2019
Suzaku 2005
Tenma 1983
Uhuru 1970
Vela 1963
XRISM 2023 Under development
XEUS
—
 Proposal, merged into the International X-ray Observatory proposal, now part of the ATHENA proposal
XMM-Newton 1999
XPoSat 2023 Planned, under development
Yohkoh 1991

High-altitude atmospheric observatories and instruments

Sometimes X-Ray observations are made from a near-space environment on sounding rockets or high-altitude balloons.

Gallery

  • Skylab S-54 instrument, an X-ray telescope

  • Chandra (AXAF) checks out a pulsar with its focusing X-ray optics

  • NuStar's lens for focusing X-rays

  • Wolter telescopes of Types I, II, and III

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kulinder Pal Singh. "Techniques in X-ray Astronomy". http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance/Volumes/10/06/0015-0023.pdf. 
  2. ↑ "Glancing Incidence Mirror Systems as Imaging Optics for X-rays". Annalen der Physik 10 (1): 94. 1952. doi:10.1002/andp.19524450108. Bibcode: 1952AnP...445...94W. 
  3. ↑ "A Generalized Schwarzschild Mirror System For Use at Glancing Incidence for X-ray Imaging". Annalen der Physik 10 (4): 286. 1952. doi:10.1002/andp.19524450410. Bibcode: 1952AnP...445..286W. 
  4. ↑ "NASA Renames Swift Observatory in Honor of Late Principal Investigator". 10 January 2018. https://www.space.com/39349-swift-observatory-name-change.html. 

External links




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