High Energy Astronomy

1st High Energy Astrophysics Observatory ( HEAO 1. GSFC. NASA )
The first of NASA's three High Energy Astronomy Observatories, HEAO 1 was launched aboard an Atlas Centaur rocket on 12 August 1977 and operated until 9 January 1979. During that time, it scanned the X-ray sky almost three times over 0.2 keV - 10 MeV, provided nearly constant monitoring of X-ray sources near the ecliptic poles, as well as more detailed studies of a number of objects through pointed observations.
2nd High Energy Astrophysics Observatory ( HEAO 2, renamed Einstein. GSFC. NASA )
The second High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO-B) was launched into an approximate 100-min low Earth orbit on 13 November 1978. Renamed the Einstein Observatory, it operated (with one significant interruption) until April 1981 and made over 5,000 targeted observations.
All-sky Low Energy Gamma Ray Observatory ( ALEGRO )
ALLEGRO is a proposed MidEx class instrument providing all-sky monitoring of low-energy gamma-rays at unprecedented sensitivity. Unlike previous hard X-ray experiments, there is no time-averaging, data-selection, or triggering on-board: ALLEGRO transmits all events, time-tagged to 1/8th ms and with full energy information. This produces a database of uniformly high resolution in both energy and time, permitting non-triggered, unbiased detection of transient and pulsed events.
Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array ( AMANDA )
Astrophysics and Radiation Measurements Group
The interests in astrophysics of the Astrophysics and Radiation Measurements Group (NIS-2) focus on gamma-ray bursts, x-ray binaries, accretion- and rotation-powered pulsars, neutron star dynamics, atomic processes in astrophysical sources, soft x-ray and EUV backgrounds, and EUV and soft x-ray transients such as flare stars. An important mission of the group is to develop new types of optical, ultraviolet, x-ray and gamma-ray detectors for ground and space applications. The group has flown high-energy instruments on Pioneer Venus Orbiter, the ISEE-3 (ICE), P78-1, Vela satellites, and the Japanese satellite Ginga. The group is currently developing experiments for several scientific missions including the X-ray Multimirror Mission (XMM), High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE), MARS-96, and the MOXE all sky x-ray monitor on the Russian Spectrum X-Gamma satellite project, and is the lead institution operating the Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors (ALEXIS) satellite and its wide field-of-view ultrasoft x-ray telescope array. The group is actively participating in Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) research through several guest investigator projects, and is also involved in establishing the growing-up Fenton Hill Observatory in the Jemez mountains, which includes an ultra-high-energy gamma-ray telescope, Milagro.
AXAF [Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility] Science Center ( ASC )
The AXAK Science Center is located at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The purpose of the ASC is to provide the support required by the science community to realize fully the potential of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).
BeppoSAX Mission ( SAX )
The X-ray astronomy satellite BeppoSAX (Satellite per Astronomia X "Beppo" in honor of Giuseppe Occhialini) is a project of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) with participation of the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR).
In the framework of past and future X-ray missions BeppoSAX stands out for its wide spectral coverage, ranging from 0.1 to over 200 keV. The sensitivity of the scientific payload allows the detailed study over the entire energy band of sources as weak as about 1/20 of 3C273. This opens new perspectives in the study of broad band X-ray spectra and variability of cosmic sources.
Broad Band X-ray Telescope ( BBXRT. GSFC. NASA )
The Broad Band X-ray Telescope (BBXRT) was flown on the space shuttle Columbia (STS-35) on 1990 December 2-December 11, as part of the ASTRO-1 payload. The flight of BBXRT marked the first opportunity for performing X-ray observations over a broad energy range (0.3-12 keV) with a moderate energy resolution (typically 90 eV and 150 eV at 1 and 6 keV, respectively).
Cambridge X-Ray Astronomy Group ( IoA, Cambridge )
Home page of the X-Ray Astronomy Group at the Instittue of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. This server provides information on the Group's research activities and links to other useful astronomical WWW sites.
Chicago Air Shower Array
The Chicago Air Shower Array (CASA) is a very large array of scintillation counters located in Utah, fifty miles southwest of Salt Lake City. CASA has been operating since 1992 in coincidence with a second array, the Michigan Anti (MIA), is made of 2500 square meters of buried muon detectors. CASA is the most sensitive experiment built to date in the study of gamma-ray and cosmic ray interactions at energies above 100 TeV (10^14 electron-Volts). Research topics on data from this experiment cover a wide variety of physics issues, including the search for gamma-rays from extragalactic sources (quasars and gamma-ray bursts), the study of diffuse gamma-ray emission from the Galactic plane, and a measurement of the cosmic ray composition in the poorly understood region from 100 to 100,000 TeV.
CHORUS
CLOUDY - Photoionization Simulation code ( CLOUDY )
Cloudy is a large-scale Fortran code designed to simulate physical conditions in a broad range of astronomical plasmas, and predict its resulting spectrum. The Cloudy homepage provides pointers to the code and its documentation, along with related publications and activities.
Coded Aperture Imaging in High-Energy Astronomy
Information about coded aperture imaging as applied in X- and gamma-ray astronomy: - introduction to the principle - specific details about instruments of the past, present and proposed future - bibliography.
Collaboration between Australia and Nippon for a Gamma Ray Observatory in the Outback ( CANGAROO )
The project uses two gamma ray telescopes at a dark site 15 km from Woomera, a small town 500 km north of Adelaide.
Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory ( CGRO. GSFC. NASA )
The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is the second of NASA's Great Observatories. Compton, at 17 tons, the heaviest astrophysical payload ever flown, was launched on April 5, 1991 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. Compton has four instruments that cover an unprecedented six decades of the electromagnetic spectrum, from 30 keV to 30 GeV
Dave's World ( Satellite development, testing & Operations )
Dave's world is split into three catagories, Space Work (My current work developing the Gravity Probe B's ground station), Physics (Relativity mostly), Astrophysics (including my previous work with the EUVE), Rocket Science (lots of links, including the X prize), and Space operations (every satellite web page I know of) Dave's Playground Weather, News, Earthquakes & hurricanes, road conditions, California info, Federal info, images, html, perl & vi resources www sources, music, & misc Jobs on-line job resourses
Deep Undersea Muon and Neutrino Detection ( DUMAND )
Directory tree of information about the DUMAND project, designed to serve the needs of the experimenters, as well as to make information about DUMAND progress available to the broader scientific public.
Falling into a Black Hole
In which we fall into a black hole on a real free fall orbit. All distortions of images are real, both general relativistic from the gravitational bending of light, and special relativistic from the near light speed orbit. After you are done dying at the central singularity of the black hole, feel free to explore more about the Schwarzschild geometry, about wormholes, and about the collapse of a black hole.
Fred Lawrence Whipple Gamma-Ray Telescopes ( Tucson, Ariz )
Gamma-Ray Astronomy with COMPTEL ( MPE Garching )
Local project documentation and utilities as well as collaboration-wide information sources are maintained by the MPE COMPTEL people for: COMPTEL Data Reduction Group work: documents, scientific results and utilities used by the data analysts, the processing team and the scientists. COMPASS software system work : technical and management documents, used and maintained by the MPE software team. the local computing environment : documents on system configuration, maintained by the MPE/RZG software team. MPE - COMPTEL People Matters: the weekly activity list individual 'home pages'
High Energy Astrophysics at CASS
High Energy Astrophysics Division ( SAO )
The Division's main focus is on X-ray astronomy via observations of high-energy sources with instruments aboard satellites, rockets, and the Space Shuttle; and development of new instrumentation for future space missions to address the processes involved in generating x-rays, the amount of matter in the universe, and the origin, evolution, and the ultimate fate of the universe. The AXAF Science Center The AXAF HRC project The AXAF Mission Support Team The ROSAT Science Data Center The PROS/XRAY Data Analysis Software The Einstein Data Center The Spectrum-X Gamma Coordination Facility The Solar and Stellar X-ray Group The Astrophysics Data System Project The Einline Database Service The SIMBAD Database Service The Quasar Energy Distribution Team The Supernova Remnant Group The Energetic X-Ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) The Large Area X-Ray Spectroscopy Mission (LAXSM) Galaxy Clusters at the Center for Astrophysics Multiwavelength Atlas of Galaxies The Everyday Classroom Tools Project The SAO Summer Intern Program Science Education and Outreach HEAD Lunch Talks Preprints of HEAD papers
High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy experiment ( HEGRA )
The HEGRA experiment was constructed for investigations of cosmic rays (seen as extended air showers) at energies too high to be detectable by small satellite experiments. The HEGRA detector is sensitive in the energy range from 0.5-10.000 TeV and was designed with special emphasis on the detection of Gamma Rays. HEGRA is located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma.
High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy ( HEGRA )
The HEGRA experiment (High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy) is mainly devoted to the study of VHE gamma ray emmision (in the range between 5*1011 eV and 1016 eV) produced either by galactic and extragalactic objects. The experiment also studies the origin and nature of cosmic rays in this energy range. It is located at The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory at LA Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) as a guest of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) .
High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment ( HEXTE )
The High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment is one of 3 common-user instruments on board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) which was launched on 1995 December 30. The HEXTE is sensitive to X-rays from 15 to 250 keV and is able to time-tag photons in this energy range to 8 microseconds.
High Resolution Fly's Eye Cosmic Ray Detector ( HiRes )
The HiRes detector - an atmospheric fluorescence detector: HiRes currently consists of two sites on top of two mountains seperated by 13km in western Utah. At present it consists of a 14 mirror prototype at the first site and a 4 mirror site at the second site. Construction is under way to built two full eyes which should be finnished by the end of 1996
Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio ( IAFE )
The objective of the Institute of Astronomy and Space Physics in Buenos-Aires, Argentina, is to constitute a multidisciplinary group of astronomers, physicists and engineers, whose work be centered on astrophysical problems not covered by other national institutions. Besides, through the requirements imposed by the non classical astronomical experiments, to carry on technological developements, mainly in the area of electronics, transferable to other sectors of the scientific-technological system of the country.
The Investigation Projects are: Astronomy, Solar Physics, Astrophysical Plasmas, Relativistic Quantum Field Theories and Gravitation, and Atomic Collisions.
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso ( INFN, Italy )
Underground laboratory for Particle Physics and Astrophysics. The server includes information about the experiments:
MOnitoring X-ray Experiment ( MOXE )
The MOnitoring X-ray Experiment (MOXE) is an X-ray all-sky monitor to be launched on the Russian Spectrum-X-Gamma satellite in 1996. It will monitor several hundred X-ray sources on a daily basis, and will be the first instrument to monitor the complete X-ray sky simultaneously. MOXE is built by Los Alamos Nat Lab, Goddard Space Flight Center and Space Research Institute (Moscow).
Multiwavelength Atlas of Galaxies
A Multiwavelength Atlas of Galaxies is presented as an educational tool for high school students. Optical, X-ray, Far-Infrared and Radio images are shown for a variety of nearby galaxies. Text describing the physical mechanisms of the different types of radiation, and their astronomical sources is supplied.
Multiwavelength Milky Way
Images of the Milky Way galaxy in the light of several spectral lines and continuum bands, spanning the electromagnetic spectrum from radio to high-energy gamma-ray, are presented. The display is interactive, allowing zooming and panning of the images, each of which covers the entire sky within ten degrees of the Galactic plane. Explanatory text and links to the data sources and references are included. The Multiwavelength Milky Way site is an educational service of the Astrophysics Data Facility at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Neutrino Oscillation MAgnetic Detector ( NOMAD )
Nomad (Neutrino Oscillation MAgnetic Detector) is CERN experiment WA96. The experiment searches for the oscillation nu_mu -> nu_tau in the CERN wide-band neutrino beam. It aims at detecting tau-neutrino charged-current interactions by observing the production of the tau lepton through its various decay modes by means of kinematical criteria.
Nonproliferation and International Security ( NIS/LANL )
NIS division projects ALEXIS Array of Low Energy X-ray Sensors BLACKBEARD A Broadband spaceborne RF detector experiment. FORTE Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events LAPP Los Alamos Portable Pulser MOXE MOnitoring X-ray Experiment for Astronomy HETE High Energy Transient Experiment for Astronomy DAHW Deployable Adaptive Processing Hardware X-ray data from P78-1 Energetic Particle data set for the CPA and SOPA detectors Magnetospheric Plasma Analyzer (MPA data) Multi-angle Imaging SpectoRadiometer (MISR) Oblique High Frequency Sounder NIS-7 projects Ulysses Solar Wind Observations Over the Poles of the Sun (SWOOPS) experiment General interest subjects Coded aperture imaging in high-energy astronomy (intro, instruments, bibliography) Research on celestial gamma-ray bursts in NIS-2 (preprints, links) The interests in astrophysics of the Astrophysics and Radiation Measurements Group (NIS-2) focus on gamma-ray bursts, x-ray binaries, accretion- and rotation-powered pulsars, neutron star dynamics, atomic processes in astrophysical sources, soft x-ray and EUV backgrounds, and EUV and soft x-ray transients such as flare stars. An important mission of the group is to develop new types of optical, ultraviolet, x-ray and gamma-ray detectors for ground and space applications. The group has flown high-energy instruments on Pioneer Venus Orbiter, the ISEE-3 (ICE), P78-1, Vela satellites, and the Japanese satellite Ginga. The group is currently developing experiments for several scientific missions including the X-ray Multimirror Mission (XMM), High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE), MARS-96, and the MOXE all sky x-ray monitor on the Russian Spectrum X-Gamma satellite project, and is the lead institution operating the Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors (ALEXIS) satellite and its wide field-of-view ultrasoft x-ray telescope array. The group is actively participating in Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) and Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) research through several guest investigator projects, and is also involved in establishing the growing-up Fenton Hill Observatory in the Jemez mountains, which includes an ultra-high-energy gamma-ray telescope, Milagro.
Physics and Space Technology Directorate ( LLNL )
Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment ( RICE )
A prototype ultra-high energy neutrino detector/obervatory located at the South Pole. RICE consists of an array of radio antennas buried deep in the ice which detect coherent Cherenkov emission from electromagnetic cascades produced as a by product of ultra-high energy neutrino interactions.
Relativistic Astrophysics Department - Sternberg Institute ( RelSAI )
Relativistic Astrophysics Department of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute. Preprints of the members of the department, scientific illustrations.
Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment ( ROTSE )
ROTSE is an experimental program to search for astrophysical optical transients on time scales of a fraction of a second to a few hours. This is an area of astronomical science that has been relatively unexplored until now. The primary incentive for this research is to find the optical counterparts of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Two sets of instruments are now under construction: ROTSE-I, a 4-fold camera array using telephoto lenses to cover a 16 degree by 16 degree field of view and ROTSE-II, a pair of 0.45 meter aperture telescopes to cover a 2 degree by 2 degree field of view. The expected sensitivities of these two systems is expected to be m_v ~ 15 and 18 respectively.
ROentgen SATellite ( ROSAT at GSFC. NASA )
ROSAT, the ROentgen SATellite, is an X-ray observatory developed through a cooperative program between the Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The satellite was designed and is operated by Germany, and was launched by the United States on June 1, 1990.
Satellites with High Energy Astrophysics Instrumentation ( HEASARC. GSFC. NASA )
Comprehensive list of satellites with high energy astrophysics instrumentation. Includes images from these missions
Scott Wolk ( Scott_Wolk )
AXAF Science Operations Team Member, Research: Star formation, stellar rotation and brown dwarfs
Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment ( STACEE )
STACEE is a new experiment for detecting gamma-rays with energies from 20 to 300 GeV, corresponding to the last unopened window in the electromagnetic spectrum. STACEE will use a the heliostats available at a large solar power facility to collect Cherenkov light that results from gamma-ray air showers. STACEE is currently under development and should be operational sometime in 1997 or 1998.
Space Sciences Laboratory ( Berkeley )
HEAD The High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society. SPRG The Space Physics Research Group. SERENDIP The Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from Nearby Developed Intelligent Populations. HOU The Hands-On Universe Program. COBE The Cosmic Background Explorer. EAG The Experimental Astrophysics Group. ISI The Infrared Spatial Interferometer Group. CEA The Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics. ORFEUS The Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometers and The Berkeley Spectrometer.
Spectrum-X-Gamma Coordination facility ( SXG. University of Harvard )
Spectrum-X-Gamma (SXG) is an international high-energy astrophysics observatory which is being built under the leadership of the Russian Space Research Institute (IKI). The US SXG CF supports the US astronomical community in obtaining information about SXG, proposing for and making SXG observations, and performing archival research using the SXG archive
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory ( SNO at Queen's University )
SNO is an astronomical neutrino observatory that is being built below ground in the deepest section of INCO Limited's Creighton Mine near Sudbury, Ontario. SNO is an international collaboration of scientists from Canada, USA and UK. Information services are available at
Super-Kamiokande
Super-Kamiokande is a joint Japan-US collaboration to construct the world's largest underground neutrino observatory.
Telescope Array
Texas A&M University. High Energy Physics Group ( MACRO experiment at Gran Sasso )
Information server operated by the High Energy Physics Group at Texas A&M University
The AXAF Science Center Public Info Server
This site provides current information on the "hot" field of X-ray astronomy and the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics (AXAF) mission, NASA's next Great Observatory. Once AXAF is launched aboard the Space Shuttle in September 1998, it will detect X-rays from cosmic sources such as black holes, and exploding stars and galaxies.
The High-Energy Astrophysics Learning Center
The High-Energy Astrophysics Learning Center is a middle school to college level resource on X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy. We provide information on celestial objects that generate high-energy radiation, X-ray and gamma-ray detector technology, and analysis of high-energy astrophysics data. We also provide multidisciplinary resources for teachers, including lesson plans, study guides, Adopt an Astronomer, and Ask a High-Energy Astronomer.
Uhuru Satellite ( GSFC. NASA )
Uhuru was the first earth-orbiting mission dedicated entirely to celestial X-ray astronomy. It was launched on 12 December 1970 into an orbit of about 560 km apogee, 520 km perigee, 3 degrees inclination, with a period of 96 minutes. The mission ended in March 1973.
UK Dark Matter Collaboration ( PPARC, UK )
The UK Dark Matter Collaboration is a consortium of astrophysicists and particle physicists, conducting experiments with the ultimate goal of detecting rare scattering events which would occur if the Galactic dark matter consists largely of a new heavy neutral particle.
Ulysses Mission ( JPL )
The Ulysses Mission is the first spacecraft to explore interplanetary space at high solar latitudes. Ulysses is a joint endeavor of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the USA. Instruments include: Magnetometer (VHM/FGM), Solar Wind Plasma Experiment (SWOOPS), Solar Wind Ion Composition Instrument (SWICS), Unified Radio and Plasma Wave Instrument (URAP), Energetic Particle Instrument (EPAC), Low-Energy Ion and Electron Experiment (HISCALE), Cosmic Ray and Solar Particle Instrument (COSPIN), Solar X-ray and Cosmic Gamma-Ray Burst Instrument (GRB)
University of New Hampshire - High Energy Astrophysics Group
COMPTEL Project
X-Ray Timing Explorer ( XTE. GSFC.NASA )
The X-ray Timing Explorer, a Goddard mission scheduled for launch in August 1995, is designed to facilitate the study of time variability in the emission of X-ray sources with moderate spectral resolution. Time scales from microseconds to months are covered in an instantaneous spectral range from 2 to 250 keV. It is designed for a required life time of two years, a goal of five years.

Updated on 97/10/19 6:37 GMT by Sergio Paoli spaoli@fcaglp.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar