List of space telescopes

This is a list of astronomical space telescopes. The list is divided up into the major frequency ranges: gamma ray, x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwave and radio. Telescopes that work in multiple frequency bands are in all of the appropriate sections. Space telescopes that collect particles, such as cosmic ray nuclei and/or electrons, as well as instruments that aim to detect gravitational waves, are also listed. Missions that look solely within our solar system, including the Earth, other planets within our system and our Sun, are excluded; see List of Solar System probes for these.

When the telescope is in Earth orbit, then two values for its height are given. These are respectively the periapsis and apoapsis of the initial orbit, i.e. the minimum and maximum distances between the telescope and the centre of Earth's mass, in kilometers. Analogous values are also given when the telescope is in solar orbit, but in these cases the unit used is the astronomical unit (AU).

Gamma ray

Gamma ray telescopes collect and measure individual, high energy gamma rays from astrophysical sources. These are absorbed by the atmosphere, requiring that observations are done by high-altitude balloons or space missions. Gamma rays can be generated by supernovae, neutron stars, pulsars and black holes. Gamma ray bursts, with extremely high energies, have also been detected but have yet to be identified.cite web | url=http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/gamma.html | title=Gamma rays | publisher=NASA | accessdate=2008-03-01]

Visible

The oldest form of astronomy, optical or visible-light astronomy extends from approximately 4000 Å to 7000 Å (400 nm to 700 nm).cite book | author=P. Moore | title=Philip's Atlas of the Universe | year=1997 | publisher=George Philis Limited | location=Great Britain | id=ISBN 0-540-07465-9] . Positioning an optical telescope in space means that the telescope does not see any atmospheric effects (see astronomical seeing), providing higher resolution images. Optical telescopes are used to look at stars, galaxies, planetary nebulae and protoplanetary disks, amongst many other things.cite web | urlhttp://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/ | url=http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/ | title=HubbleSite - The Telescope - Hubble Essentials | publisher=NASA | accessdate=2008-03-01]

Radio

As the atmosphere is transparent for radio waves, radio telescopes in space are of most use for Very Long Baseline Interferometry; doing simultaneous observations of a source with both a satellite and a ground-based telescope and by correlating their signals to simulate a radio telescope the size of the separation between the two telescopes. Observations can be of supernova remnants, masers, gravitational lenses, starburst galaxies, and many other things.

References