Synchrotron Radiation from Outer Space and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

The universe provides numerous extremely interesting astrophysical sources of synchrotron X radiation. The Chandra X-ray Observatory and other X-ray missions provide powerful probes of these and other cosmic X-ray sources. Chandra is the X-ray component of NASA’s Great Observatory Program which also includes the Hubble Space telescope, the Spitzer Infrared Telescope Facility, and the now defunct Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory provides the best angular resolution (sub-arcsecond) of any previous, current, or planned (for the foreseeable near future) space-based X-ray instrumentation. We present here a brief overview of the technical capability of this X-Ray observatory and some of the remarkable discoveries involving cosmic synchrotron sources. 1. Technical Description of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory In this section we present an overview of the technical capability of the Observatory. For more details, please see Weisskopf et al. (2003). 1.1. The Orbit and the Spacecraft The Chandra X-Ray Observatory began its journey into space on July 23, 1999 using the Space Shuttle Columbia for the initial ascent. An upper stage and integral propulsion then placed the observatory into an elliptical orbit with an initial apogee of 140,000 km (1/3 of the distance to the moon) and an initial perigee 10,000 km (about two earth radii). In this orbit, the satellite (Figure 1) is above the radiation belts for more than 75% of the 63.5-hour orbital period, allowing for uninterrupted observations up to more than 2 days.