The Ariel V Satellite
Credit: NASA
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Ariel V was launched into a low inclination (2.8
degrees) orbit from the San Marco launch platform in the Indian Ocean on 15
October 1974. The mission was a British-USA collaboration. The Science
Research Council managed the project for the UK and GSFC/NASA for the USA.
Ariel V was dedicated to monitoring the X-ray sky with a comprehensive
payload. The mission ended in the spring of 1980.
Mission Characteristics
 Lifetime: 15
October 1974 - 14 March 1980
Energy Range:
0.3-40 keV
Payload:
- Experiments aligned with the spin axis.
- Rotation Modulation Collimator (RMC) (0.3-30 keV).
- High resolution proportional counter spectrometer.
- Polarimeter/spectrometer.
- Scintillation telescope.
- All-Sky Monitor (ASM) a small (~1 cm2) pinhole camera
(3-6 keV).
- Sky Survey Instrument (SSI) composite of two proportional
counters with 290 cm2 effective area each (1.5-20 keV).
Science Highlights:
- Long-term monitoring of numerous X-ray sources.
- Discovery of several long period (minutes) X-ray pulsars.
- Discovery of several bright X-ray transients probably containing a Black
Hole (e.g. A0620-00=Nova Mon 1975).
- Establishing that Seyfert I galaxies (AGN) are a class of X-ray emitters.
- Discovery of iron line emission in extragalactic sources.
Archive: Lightcurves from the ASM. Raw data and the 3rd
Ariel V catalog from the SSI.
[About Ariel V]
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