Sometimes astrophysicists have to dress up as doctors to study the nature and characteristics of celestial objects. As in the case of IGR J17091-3624 - this is the code that identifies a system consisting of a black hole ripping matter to a star close to it and so it becomes an intense source of X-rays.
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) is a satellite that observed the time variation of astronomical X-ray sources, named after Bruno Rossi. The RXTE has three instruments—an All Sky Monitor, the Proportional Counter Array, and the High-Energy X-ray Timing Experiment (HEXTE). The RXTE observed X-rays from black holes, neutron stars, X-ray pulsars and X-ray bursts. It was funded as part of the Explorer program, and is sometimes also called Explorer 69.
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) was launched on December 30, 1995 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The mission was managed and controlled by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. RXTE features unprecedented time resolution in combination with moderate spectral resolution to explore the variability of X-ray sources. Time scales from microseconds to months are covered in an instantaneous spectral range from 2 to 250 keV. Originally designed for a required lifetime of two years with a goal of five, RXTE spectacularly passed that goal and completed 16 years of observations before being decommisioned on January 5, 2012.
The spacecraft was designed and built by the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The launch vehicle was a Delta II rocket that put RXTE into its intended low-earth circular orbit at an altitude of 580 km, corresponding to an orbital period of about 90 minutes, with an inclination of 23 degrees.
Operations were managed at Goddard Space Flight Center. The scientific planning and data processing take place at the RXTE Science Operations Center (SOC) comprising the:
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The Project Scientist for RXTE was Dr. Jean H. Swank before launch and for many years after. In the later years of the mission, Dr. Tod Strohmayer was the Project Scientist.
What is RXTE
Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE): December 1995 - January 2012
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