Portal:Radiation astronomy/X-ray astronomy article/10

Chandra X-ray Observatory and Inertial Upper Stage sit inside the payload bay on Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-93.

X-ray astronomy satellites study X-ray emissions from celestial objects. Satellites, which can detect and transmit data about the X-ray emissions are deployed as part of branch of space science known as X-ray astronomy. Satellites are needed because X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to high altitude by balloons, sounding rockets, and satellites.

Those in use today include the XMM-Newton observatory (low to mid energy X-rays 0.1-15 keV) and the INTEGRAL satellite (high energy X-rays 15-60 keV). Both were launched by the European Space Agency. NASA has launched the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), the Swift, and Chandra observatories. One of the instruments on Swift is the Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT).