Einstein Observatory

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.

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 degrees

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 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

• Einstein Observatory (HEAO-2)