Satellite Showcase
So You Want Science? Just ASCA!
Welcome to the Special Exhibit on the magnificent science
results from the ASCA satellite. ASCA (Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and
Astrophysics) was launched by ISAS (Institute of Space and Astronautical
Sciences), Japan, on February 20th, 1993. Since then, it has presented
scientists with data of extraordinary
spectral
resolution... resulting in scientific advances in the areas of accreting
binaries, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, clusters of galaxies, and many
other topics. In many ways, ASCA can be said to have opened up the true
era of X-ray
spectroscopy --
acting as a pathfinder for future missions such as XMM, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Astro-E.
This exhibit highlights some of the exciting discoveries. Within the
constraints of the budget and spacecraft limitations, ASCA was made into
the best possible satellite for doing X-ray spectroscopy. This complements well
ROSAT's ability to do
X-ray imaging and
RXTE's ability to do
X-ray timing studies. Together, these missions are giving us unprecedented
advances on all fronts in understanding the high-energy Universe.
Next, a brief tour of some of the Scientific Results:
You can find an advanced level discussion of these (and more!) results from
ASCA in the ASCA Science Highlights (http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/asca/science_highlights.html) pages available at the
HEASARC (http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/).
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