Preferred Name

X-ray astronomy

Definitions

The study of celestial bodies using their X-ray emission. X-ray astronomy deals mainly with Galactic and extragalactic phenomena involving very high-energy photon emissions, covering a band of energies between 0.1 keV and 500 keV. The research field includes: X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables, pulsars, black holes, dark matter, active galaxies, galactic clusters X-ray transients. The Earth's atmosphere absorbs most X-rays coming from outer space. X-ray astronomy therefore requires observations to be done above atmosphere. The first rocket flight which successfully detected a cosmic source of X-ray emission was launched in 1962 by an American research group. A very bright source was detected that they named Scorpius X-1. Since then several dedicated X-ray astronomy satellites have been launched, among which: Uhuru, INTEGRAL, ROSAT, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), Chandra X-ray Observatory, and XMM-Newton, which have contributed to important advances in astronomy.

ID

http://www.ivoa.net/rdf/uat#x-ray-astronomy

broader

http://www.ivoa.net/rdf/uat#astronomical-methods

definition

The study of celestial bodies using their X-ray emission. X-ray astronomy deals mainly with Galactic and extragalactic phenomena involving very high-energy photon emissions, covering a band of energies between 0.1 keV and 500 keV. The research field includes: X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables, pulsars, black holes, dark matter, active galaxies, galactic clusters X-ray transients. The Earth's atmosphere absorbs most X-rays coming from outer space. X-ray astronomy therefore requires observations to be done above atmosphere. The first rocket flight which successfully detected a cosmic source of X-ray emission was launched in 1962 by an American research group. A very bright source was detected that they named Scorpius X-1. Since then several dedicated X-ray astronomy satellites have been launched, among which: Uhuru, INTEGRAL, ROSAT, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), Chandra X-ray Observatory, and XMM-Newton, which have contributed to important advances in astronomy.

exactMatch

http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/1810

prefLabel

X-ray astronomy

related

http://www.ivoa.net/rdf/uat#x-ray-sources

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