Skip to main content

Come analyze HEASARC, IRSA, and MAST data in the cloud! The Fornax Initiative is now welcoming all interested beta users.

AMS-02
AstroSat
BlackCAT
CALET
Chandra
DAMPE
Einstein Probe
Fermi
GECAM
GRBBeta
HXMT-Insight
IXPE
MAXI
NuSTAR
SRG eRosita /
ART-XC
SVOM
Swift
XMM-Newton
XPoSat
XRISM

AGILE
ANS
ARIEL V
ASCA
BBXRT
BeppoSAX
CGRO
COPERNICUS
COS-B
DXS
EINSTEIN
EUVE
EXOSAT
GINGA
GRANAT
HaloSat
HAKUCHO
HEAO-1
HEAO-3
HETE-2
Hitomi
OSO-7
OSO-8
ROSAT
Rossi XTE
SAS-2
SAS-3
Suzaku
TENMA
UHURU
VELA 5B
WASS
XQC

OSO-5

Photograph of the OSO 7 satellite

The Fifth Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO 5) was launched on 22 January 1969, and lasted until July 1975. It was the 5th satellite put into orbit as part of the Orbiting Solar Observatory program. This program was intended to launch a series of nearly identical satellites to cover an entire 11-year solar cycle. The circular orbit had an altitude of 555 km and an inclination of 33 degrees. The spin rate of the satellite was 1.8 s.

Mission Characteristics

Lifetime
22 Jan 1969–Jul 1975
Special Features
The wheel of the satellite carried, amongst other experiments, a CsI crystal scintillator.

Payload

CsI crystal scintillator

Energy Range
14–254 keV
Effective Area
70 cm2
Field of View
∼40 °
Energy Resolution
14 keV first channel
∼28 keV in other 8 channels
The central crystal was 0.635 cm thick, had a sensitive area of 70 cm2, and was viewed from behind by a pair of photomultiplier tubes. The shield crystal had a wall thickness of 4.4 cm and was viewed by 4 photomultipliers. There were 9 energy channels: the first covering 14–28 keV and the others equally spaced from 28–254 keV. In-flight calibration was done with an 241Am source. The instrument was designed primarily for observation of solar X-ray bursts. A secondary interest was the measurement of the intensity, spectrum, and spatial distribution of the diffuse cosmic background.

Science Highlights

The data produced a spectrum of the diffuse background over the energy range 14–200 keV.

Gallery Publications