British X-ray astronomy.
Abstract
The development of solar and cosmic X-ray studies in the UK, in particular the Skylark and Ariel programs, is discussed. The characteristics and capabilities of the X-ray emulsion detector developed to monitor the solar X-radiation in the Skylark program, and of the proportional counter spectrometer developed for solar X-ray measurements on the Ariel I satellite are described. The designs and functions of the pin-hole camera, the Bragg crystal spectrometer, and the X-ray spectroheliograph are exmained. The Skylark observations of cosmic X-ray sources and high-resolution solar spectra, and the Ariel 5 data on cosmic X-ray sources are presented. Consideration is given to the Ariel 6, the U.S. Einstein Observatory, Exosat, and ASTRO-C.
- Publication:
-
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- September 1986
- Bibcode:
- 1986QJRAS..27..435P
- Keywords:
-
- Cosmic Rays;
- Solar X-Rays;
- United Kingdom;
- X Ray Astronomy;
- Proportional Counters;
- Radiation Detectors;
- Spaceborne Astronomy;
- X Ray Spectroscopy;
- Astronomy