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Welcome to X-Ray Astronomy at Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. This
page introduces the two main emphases of our work:
Chandra Project Science and Research in X-Ray Astronomy. News and pictures of the Spring 2005 balloon campaign May 2005 The Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO), depicted at left, is the third of NASA's Great Observatories. Chandra is managed by MSFC. The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics operates the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center and the Education and Public Outreach site from Cambridge, MA. |
| Abstracts and presentations from the 2003 September 4 Years of Chandra Observations Symposium, hosted by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, are available. |
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Chandra Project Science, led by the CXO Project
Scientist, Dr. Martin Weisskopf, and his team
provide scientific and technical oversight of all
aspects of the CXO development
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a leading scientific role in the CXO Calibration , and
special studies and analyses as needed.
Chandra was launched from Space Shuttle Columbia on 23 July 1999. Chandra has since returned spectacular pictures and spectra of high-energy phenomena in astronomical objects such as that from the Crab Nebula shown at right. Here is the latest Chandra News from Marshall Space Flight Center Newsroom. Our own investigations using Chandra data include the Crab Pulsar and Nebula, SN 1993J and its host galaxy M81, and the cluster of galaxies Abell 1995. The signatures galaxy clusters leave in the cosmic microwave background is used to measure the age and geometry of the universe through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect. |
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Another aspect of our ongoing research at MSFC is the development of x-ray optics
& detectors in support of our balloon flight program and in preparation for
future space missions. The team is currently preparing for a balloon flight in of
the HERO hard X-ray focussing optics experiment. Check here for details and pictures of the Spring 2005
campaign. Read more about Marshall's High-Energy Replicated Optics focussing x-rays
up to 70 keV. The X-ray detectors are improved versions of the
Gas Scintillation Proportional
Counters used in past flights.
X-ray Astronomy Group personnel are involved in additional mirror development efforts, including support for future space missions Constellation-X and the Micro-Arcsecond X-Ray Imaging Mission (MAXIM). Mirror and detector testing often utilizes MSFC's world-class X-Ray Calibration Facility (XRCF). Several X-Ray Detectors have been built and flown in the past. |
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The members of our group have adapted, to html format, a collection of our presentations on topics in x-ray astronomy of general interest and assembled many of our recent scientific papers in pdf format for those interested in the more technical aspects of our research. The QDP/PLT homepage provides some documentation for this software. |
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Editor: Dr. Douglas Swartz System Administrator: Mr. Bob Dean Privacy Policy and Important Notices |
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