Presented by Ellen Holmes

Hubble Space Telescope Launched August 25th, 1997  Optical telescopes gather visible light, just like our eyes, but greatly magnified  For hundreds of years we have built optical telescopes on Earth, but they work even better in space

Advanced Composition Explorer  Studies energetic particles coming from the Sun, interplanetary space, and the Galaxy  Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) are the nuclei of atoms such as hydrogen, helium, etc. and are one of the few direct examples of matter from outside our solar system  Detects cosmic rays traveling at speeds up to 85% that of light  Measures the composition of GCRs Launched August 25th, 1997

Astro-E2 Expected Launch February 2005  Joint Japanese-US mission  Devoted to observations of of celestial x-ray objects - both low and high energy objects and detects the differences in the energy of the photons  X-ray radiation is invisible to the human eye and is generated under the most extreme conditions of gravity, temperature, and magnetic fields  Black Holes, Neutron Stars, and Active Galaxies

Chandra X-ray Observatory Launched July23, 1999  Observe extremely energetic, turbulent regions of space where matter has temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius and radiates its light energy as x-rays  Remnants of exploded stars, young stars in active star forming regions, neutron stars, matter swirling towards black holes, supermassive galaxy-centric black holes  Sharp enough to distinguish individual sources and give information about the sources physical processes

Pulsar

Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer Launched Fall 2002  All-sky spectroscopy of the diffuse background glowing in ultra-violet light  Determine electron temperature, ionization conditions, and cooling mechanisms of the million degree plasma filling the interstellar bubble  Local Bubble (LB) is a bubble of hot gas about 300 light years in radius, surrounded by colder denser gas in our Galaxy  LB may have been created by a supernova explosion 10 million years ago

Constellation-X Expected Launch 2002  Team of 4 orbiting telescopes times as sensitive to x- ray light than any previous telescope  Peer clearly into matter falling into black holes  Trace dark matter, invisible to optical telescopes but affects the surrounding matter with its gravity  Hot as under the influence of dark matter emits x-rays

Strong Gravity Life Cycles Dark Matter Black Holes

Galaxy Evolution Explorer Launched April 28th, 2003  Ultraviolet imaging and spectroscopic surveying mission  Map the global history and probe the causes of star formation from the present era back to when the Universe was 1/5th its present age  When massive stars are created the shine brightly at ultraviolet energies, observing this can help determine the rate at which these stars form  Cores of stars convert hydrogen and helium into heavier elements - we owe them our existence!

Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope Expected Launch Fall 2004  Two detectors - LAT(Large Area Telescope) and GBM(Gamma-ray Burst Monitor)  Image celestial gamma-ray sources  Gamma radiation is generated under the most extreme conditions.  Study these violent events in order to understand Nature at its ultimate limits

ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI As matter falls toward the hole, it forms a rotating, flattened disk called an accretion disk. Some black holes can form jets of matter and energy that stream outward. Sites of gamma-ray formation

Gravity Probe - B Launched 2003  4 spinning gyroscopes in orbit around Earth, each spin axis should be changed slightly by the curvature of local space- time  Relativity gyroscope that measures the local space-time curvature caused by the Earth’s mass and the local space- time “frame-dragging” caused by its rotation  Examines Einstein’s 1916 General Theory of Relativity

High Energy Transient Explorer 2 Launched October 9th, 2000  Designed to detect and localize gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)  GRBs are thought to originate billions of light years away and each releases as much energy as a billion billion Suns  Occur about once a day  Speculation that these are the explosion of massive stars or the merging of neutron stars and black holes

International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory Launched October 2002  International collaboration headed by the ESA  Studies celestial gamma-ray sources  Primary objective is the study of the origin and evolution of chemical elements in our Galaxy and the Universe  Performs studies of novae, supernovae and their radioactive debris, black holes, active galaxies, GRBs and the center of our own galaxy

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna Expected launch 2008  Three spacecraft in the formation of a triangle, 5K apart  Measure the distortion of space caused by passing gravitational waves that come from large dense masses in the Universe  Detect binary star galaxies, black hole mergers, and observe gravitational waves from the early Universe  Gravitational waves get weaker as they travel across space, but they aren’t changed as they pass through matter

Microwave Anisotropy Probe Launched June 30th, 2001  Measures the cosmic background radiation over the full sky  This map of the remnant heat from the Big Bang will provide answers about the origin and fate of our Universe  Temperature map show relatively constant temperature across all the sky 400,000 years after the Big Bang  Hot and cold spots in this map are of particular interest

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Launched December 30th, 1995  Probes the physics of cosmic X-ray sources by measuring their variability over time scales ranging from milliseconds to years  Explores the limits of matter and space time at the very edge of black holes  Investigates neutron stars emitting X-rays that pulse over 1,000 times per second

Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite Launched December 2nd, 1998  First radio based satellite sensitive to electromagnetic radiation at submillimeter wavelengths.  Gain understanding of star formation by determining the composition of interstellar clouds and the means by which they collapse  Stars form when giant clouds of dust and gas collapse  As it shrinks the interior heats up  The heat escapes the cloud as infrared, submillimeter and radio waves

Swift Launched September 2003  Detects and accurately positions gamma ray bursts  Three coaligned detectors  Every day random flashes of gamma-rays occur that last from a few milliseconds to a few minutes, and then are never seen again from the same spot

X-ray Multi-Mirror-Newton Mission Launched December 10, 1999  Investigates the violent processes of the Universe  Images and spectrographs of very hot celestial objects  Has observed the farthest quasar ever detected, uncovered mysteries in the the vicinity of black holes, and revealed the details of supernovae remnant X-ray emission

X-ray fluorescence emission from the atmosphere of Mars, mainly from oxygen. All of these emissions tell us something about the interaction of radiation with the planet's atmosphere and its environment.