All sky monitor on board the GINGA satellite and its performance.
Abstract
A description of the X-ray All Sky Monitor (ASM) on board the satellite Ginga is presented. The ASM consists of two identical gas proportional counters operating in the energy range between 1 and 20 keV. The instrument is subtended by six different collimators with a field of view of roughly 1 x 45 deg. The collimators are arranged symmetrically in six different slant-angle positions: +/-8, 24, 42 deg, respectively, about the Z-axis of the spacecraft. These collimators are especially effective for resolving sources in densely packed regions such as the Galactic center. The instrument has functioned well since the February 1987 launch. The ASM is uniquely capable of achieving two important objectives: (1) it serves as a real-time alarm for new transient phenomena, and provides fast-response data for studying the temporal and spectral behavior of sources; and (2) it provides a sensitive, long-term historical record of X-ray sources which can be made available for archival investigation (e.g., Cir X-1).
- Publication:
-
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
- Pub Date:
- 1989
- Bibcode:
- 1989PASJ...41..391T
- Keywords:
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- Astronomical Satellites;
- Ginga Satellite;
- Radiation Counters;
- Satellite-Borne Instruments;
- X Ray Astronomy;
- X Ray Sources;
- Field Of View;
- Galactic Nuclei;
- Japanese Space Program;
- Milky Way Galaxy;
- Spacecraft Instrumentation