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A Russian and European full-sky observation satellite is in space after being successfully launched on a satellite. Proton rocket Saturday, July 13th.
The Spektrum-Röntgen-Gamma mission, also known as Spektr-RG, is a joint project of the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmosand the German space agency DLR. Spektr-RG launched into space since the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:31 am EDT (12:31 GMT or 17:31 local time).
Saturday's launch followed weeks of delay. An attempt to launch the Spektr-RG mission on June 21 was delayed by a battery discharge on the upper Block DM stage of the Proton rocket, according to Spaceflight Now. Roscosmos then postponed a second launch attempt Friday (July 12) due to a potential problem with the recall.
Related: See! This amazing light art is actually a sky filled with X-rays
A Russian Proton-M rocket launches the Spektr-RG International X-ray Observatory for Roscosmos and the German Aerospace Center of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on July 13, 2019.
(Image credit: Roscosmos)
This still image from a video of the German Aerospace Center shows the layout of Russian and German X-ray telescopes on the Spektr-RG space observatory.
(Image credit: DLR / German Aerospace Center)
Spektr-RG will then move to a stable orbit in the so-called Lagrange point space (in particular L2), where the gravitational forces of two large objects – in this case, the sun and the Earth – balance out. This location will allow Spektr-RG to make observations while using a minimal amount of fuel.
The spacecraft should detect 100,000 clusters of galaxies, 3 million supermassifs black holes, tens of thousands of galaxies forming stars, the presence of plasma (superheated gas) and many other types of objects, according to Roscosmos.
The observatory includes two X-ray mirror telescopes, called ART-XC and eROSITA. ART-XC (a Russian payload) will examine the higher energies of X-rays, up to 30 keV, while eROSITA (Roentgen's extended study with a network of imaging telescopes) is optimized for an energy range of 0.5 to 10 keV.
KeV is a measurement referring to the difference in electrical potential. A single electron-volt (eV) is a unit of energy equal to the amount of energy that an electron (negatively charged particle) gains when it is accelerated from rest through a potential difference of 1 volt. One kiloelectron volt (keV) equals 1,000 electron volts.
ART-XC will have a narrower field of view and is designed to look at objects with a lower energy range than eROSITA, according to Anatoly Zak of Russian Space Web. "The overlap of the sensitivity of eROSITA and ART-XC would be useful for the calibration of both instruments and to increase the reliability of their scientific results", he wrote.
Spektr-RG should be calibrated in about three months; he will then carry out his investigation.
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