Today marks the third anniversary of the launch of the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA; renamed from Astro D when launched). ASCA [ http://heasarc.gsfc…], seen here superposed on galaxy M31 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], is a Japanese satellite for which NASA has provided some scientific equipment. ASCA [ http://www.astro.is…] carries four large-area X-ray telescopes. At the focus of two of the telescopes is a Gas Imaging Spectrometer (GIS [ http://heasarc.gsfc…]), while a Solid-state Imaging Spectrometer (SIS [ http://heasarc.gsfc…]) is at the focus of the other two. ASCA has provided recent evidence that high energy cosmic rays are formed in the expanding gas from a supernova [ http://heasarc.gsfc…]. During ASCA's three years of operation, it has also yielded valuable data on quasars [ http://www.aas.org/…], supernova remnants [ http://www.aas.org/…], dwarf novae [ http://adsabs.harva…], pulsars [ http://www.aas.org/…], clusters of galaxies [ http://adsabs.harva…], and the mysterious X-ray background [ http://xxx.lanl.gov…] radiation that appears to come from all directions.
Explanation
Today marks the third anniversary of the launch of the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA; renamed from Astro D when launched). ASCA [ http://heasarc.gsfc…], seen here superposed on galaxy M31 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], is a Japanese satellite for which NASA has provided some scientific equipment. ASCA [ http://www.astro.is…] carries four large-area X-ray telescopes. At the focus of two of the telescopes is a Gas Imaging Spectrometer (GIS [ http://heasarc.gsfc…]), while a Solid-state Imaging Spectrometer (SIS [ http://heasarc.gsfc…]) is at the focus of the other two. ASCA has provided recent evidence that high energy cosmic rays are formed in the expanding gas from a supernova [ http://heasarc.gsfc…]. During ASCA's three years of operation, it has also yielded valuable data on quasars [ http://www.aas.org/…], supernova remnants [ http://www.aas.org/…], dwarf novae [ http://adsabs.harva…], pulsars [ http://www.aas.org/…], clusters of galaxies [ http://adsabs.harva…], and the mysterious X-ray background [ http://xxx.lanl.gov…] radiation that appears to come from all directions.
