NSSDCA ID: 1971-083A-04
Mission Name: OSO 7The purpose of this MIT experiment was to survey the entire sky for cosmic X-ray sources in the energy range 1 to 60 keV with an angular resolution of about 1 deg and perform spectral analysis in five broad bands. Each portion of the sky was viewed several times during each year of operation. Two multicompartmented proportional counters equipped with honeycomb collimators (3.5-sq deg solid angle) were mounted in one segment of the OSO wheel section, with the centers of their fields of view oriented 15 deg above and 15 deg below the spacecraft equator. X-rays were detected in one or another of four compartments depending upon their energy. Low-energy photons were stopped in the first compartment, higher-energy photons penetrated to the second compartment, and photons of even higher energies penetrated through the first and second compartments to the third and fourth compartments. The energy bands were logarithmically equispaced. A separate single compartment counter with a thin aluminum window detected photons between 1.0 and 1.5 keV. Counts from each compartment were stored in one of 256 accumulators corresponding to a division of the spacecraft spin into 256 sectors. Inflight calibration was provided by periodic exposure to a radioactive source. For more details, see G. W. Clark et al., Ap. J., v. 179, p. 263, 1973.
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Hale V. Bradt | Other Investigator | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | hale@mit.edu |
Dr. Walter H. G. Lewin | Other Investigator | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | lewin@space.mit.edu |
Dr. Herbert W. Schnopper | Other Investigator | Danish Space Research Institute | |
Dr. George W. Clark | Principal Investigator | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | gwc@space.mit.edu |