NSSDCA ID: 1967-020A-01
Mission Name: OSO 3The MIT high-energy gamma-ray detector OSO 3 was a "counter telescope" specifically designed to measure gamma rays with energies >50 MeV produced by cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar matter. The telescope consisted of a front multi-layer scintillation counter and a back directionally sensitive Cerenkov counter. A high-energy gamma ray, incident on the front detector from a direction within a 15-degree wide field of view, was converted into a pair of electrons that continued in the direction of the gamma ray and traversed the Cerenkov detector. An anticoincidence shield covering the front and sides protected the telescope from interference by other radiation. Characteristic and coincident signals from the two telescope counters with no coincident signal from the shield counter signified the detection of a high-energy gamma ray. During 16 months of operation in orbit, the telescope recorded 621 cosmic gamma rays, yielding the first all-sky map of cosmic gamma rays and the first definitive detection of gamma rays from both galactic and extragalactic sources.
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Gordon P. Garmire | Other Investigator | Pennsylvania State University | garmire@astro.psu.edu |
Dr. George W. Clark | Other Investigator | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | gwc@space.mit.edu |
Prof. William L. Kraushaar | Principal Investigator | University of Wisconsin-Madison |