HEAPOW: Time Flies (2012 Jan 09)

[bystander]

HEAPOW: Time Flies (2012 Jan 09)

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, or RXTE, was launched into orbit on December 30, 1995. RXTE was designed to perform high-time resolution measurements of the changes in X-ray emission from black holes, neutron stars, normal stars and binaries, and active and normal galaxies. During its 16 years of operation, RXTE made many observational breakthroughs, watching matter making its final plunge into a black hole, constraining the extremely high density of matter inside neutron stars, confirming the spin of spacetime around pulsars, probing gravitational radiation from revolving massive bodies, probing the strongest magnets in the Universe, and lots of other "firsts". The image above is RXTE in its younger days, getting ready for launch. After an extremely productive lifetime, RXTE was put out to higher pastures on January 5, 2012. The satellite will be missed by high energy astronomers, but it has left behind a tremendous legacy archive which will provide fertile grounds for researchers for many years to come.

The RXTE Mission is Approaching the End of Science Operations
NASA's Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Completes Mission Operations
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 44#p166450

<< Previous HEAPOW

High Energy Astrophysics Picture of the Week

Next HEAPOW >>

Author: Dr. Michael F. Corcoran

[Ann]

So one after another, the short-wavelength telescopes give up and die. Well, who cares, when one long-wavelength instrument after another is getting ready for action?

Ann

[owlice]

So one after another, the short-wavelength telescopes give up and die. Well, who cares, when one long-wavelength instrument after another is getting ready for action?

Ann

Who cares?? WOW.

[Ann]

So one after another, the short-wavelength telescopes give up and die. Well, who cares, when one long-wavelength instrument after another is getting ready for action?

Ann

Who cares?? WOW.

I meant that there is a bank of short wavelength data thanks to observations with short wavelength telescopes. But if these short wavelength telescopes go out of commission and are not replaced, then it will be ever harder to make new observations of short wavelength events.

It could certainly be that I'm wrong about my main concern, which is that the short wavelength part of the spectrum is being neglected as more and more efforts are being directed into building long wavelength instruments and making long wavelength observations.

But it could be that there are enough short wavelength telescopes in operation that we are not going to miss any important observations for lack of suitable telescopes.

Or it could be that in the present financial situation, astronomers just can't have it all and have to sacrifice parts of their field. And if so, it could well be that the short wavelength astronomy is the least profitable aspect of astronomical research nowadays.

Ann

[owlice]

I didn't take your comment as concern, but rather, as cavalier. If you intended it as concern, well, I certainly didn't take it that way and apologize if I misinterpreted your "Who cares?"

[Chris Peterson]

So one after another, the short-wavelength telescopes give up and die. Well, who cares, when one long-wavelength instrument after another is getting ready for action?

There are still a number of active short wavelength (UV, X-ray, and gamma ray) space telescopes or non-telescopic (like RXTE) instruments, as well as a line of future ones being set up (in various stages, from proposed to approved).

In fact, I think there are more short wavelength missions on the books than long, although there are a couple of high cost IR telescopes going online- not surprising since this is a more neglected part of the spectrum, and the value of data in this spectral range is much greater when it comes to cosmological questions, which are really a main focus of current astronomical research.