Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2: Difference between revisions

Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2
Mission type	Astronomy
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1968-110A
SATCAT no.	3597
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Grumman
Dry mass	2,012 kilograms (4,436 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	7 December 1968, 08:40:09 UTC
Rocket	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-36B
End of mission
Last contact	January 1973
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	768 kilometres (477 mi)
Apogee altitude	777 kilometres (483 mi)
Inclination	35.0 degrees
Period	100.30 minutes
Epoch	6 January 1969

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Revision as of 22:15, 21 October 2013

OAO-2 Stargazer (Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2) was a space observatory launched on December 7, 1968, with the nickname Stargazer.^[2] An Atlas-Centaur launched it into a nearly circular 750 km altitude Earth orbit.^[3] Data was collected in ultraviolet on many sources including comets, planets, and galaxies.^[4]^[2] It had two major instrument sets facing in opposite directions; the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the Wisconsin Experiment Package (WEP).^[4] One discovery was large halos of hydrogen gas around comets,^[4] and it also observed Nova Serpentis.^[2]

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, also called Celescope, had four 12 inch Schwarzschild telescopes that fed into Uvicons.^[5] Various filters, photocathodes, and electronics aided in collecting data in several ultraviolet light passbands.^[5] The experiment was completed in April 1970.^[5] By the time it finished about 10 percent of the sky was observed.^[5]

The Wisconsin Experiment Package had eleven different telescopes for ultraviolet observations.^[6] For example, there was a photoelectric photometer fed by a 16 inch telescope with a six-position filter wheel.^[6] WEP observed over 1200 targets in ultraviolet light before the mission ended in early 1973.^[4]

References

^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Joseph A. Angelo - Spacecraft for Astronomy (2009) - Page 20 (Google Books)
^ Gunter - OAO-2
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Orbiting Astronomical Observatory OAO-2
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d High-Resolution Telescopes
^ ^a ^b Wisconsin Experiment Package

External links

OAO 2 observations of the Alpha Persei cluster

[1] McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 12 October 2013.

[joseph-2] Joseph A. Angelo - Spacecraft for Astronomy (2009) - Page 20 (Google Books)

[3] Gunter - OAO-2

[o2-4] Orbiting Astronomical Observatory OAO-2

[sao-5] High-Resolution Telescopes

[wep-6] Wisconsin Experiment Package

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 '''OAO-2 ''Stargazer''''' (Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2) was a space observatory launched on December 7, 1968, with the nickname ''Stargazer''.<ref name=joseph>[http://books.google.com/books?id=y8BMepjeciEC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=stargazer+oao-2&source=bl&ots=_48qTuQ3NN&sig=tbYK9Cxs6AnDsIBT3rwZydykQYg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TUpYUverJIen4AO5uoCABw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=stargazer%20oao-2&f=false Joseph A. Angelo - Spacecraft for Astronomy (2009) - Page 20] (Google Books)</ref>
-An [[Atlas-Centaur]] launched it into a nearly circular 750 km altitude Earth orbit.<ref>[http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/oao-2.htm Gunter - OAO-2]</ref> Data was collected in ultraviolet on many sources including comets, planets, and galaxies.<ref name=o2/><ref name=joseph/> It had two major instrument sets facing in opposite directions; the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Wisconsin Experiment Package.<ref name=o2>[http://www.sal.wisc.edu/~meade/OAO/ Orbiting Astronomical Observatory OAO-2]</ref> WEP was used to observe over 1200 targets in ultraviolet light before the mission ended in January 1973.<ref name=o2/> One discovery was large halos of hydrogen gas around comets,<ref name=o2/> and it also observed [[Nova Serpentis]].<ref name=joseph/>
+An [[Atlas-Centaur]] launched it into a nearly circular 750 km altitude Earth orbit.<ref>[http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/oao-2.htm Gunter - OAO-2]</ref> Data was collected in ultraviolet on many sources including comets, planets, and galaxies.<ref name=o2/><ref name=joseph/> It had two major instrument sets facing in opposite directions; the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the Wisconsin Experiment Package (WEP).<ref name=o2>[http://www.sal.wisc.edu/~meade/OAO/ Orbiting Astronomical Observatory OAO-2]</ref>  One discovery was large halos of hydrogen gas around comets,<ref name=o2/> and it also observed [[Nova Serpentis]].<ref name=joseph/>
+The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, also called Celescope, had four 12 inch Schwarzschild telescopes that fed into Uvicons.<ref name=sao>[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experimentDisplay.do?id=1968-110A-01 High-Resolution Telescopes]</ref>  Various filters, photocathodes, and electronics aided in collecting data in several ultraviolet light passbands.<ref name=sao/> The experiment was completed in April 1970.<ref name=sao/> By the time it finished about 10 percent of the sky was observed.<ref name=sao/>
+The Wisconsin Experiment Package had eleven different telescopes for ultraviolet observations.<ref name=wep>[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experimentDisplay.do?id=1968-110A-02 Wisconsin Experiment Package]</ref> For example, there was a photoelectric photometer fed by a 16 inch telescope with a six-position filter wheel.<ref name=wep/> WEP observed over 1200 targets in ultraviolet light before the mission ended in early 1973.<ref name=o2/>
 ==See also==