INTEGRAL
| Missing image Integral_artist_illust.jpg Integral spacecraft | |
| Artist's Illustration of INTEGRAL in orbit (credit: ESA) | |
| Organization | ESA, NASA, RKA |
| Wavelength regime | gamma ray |
| Orbit Height | 9000 km (perigee), 153000 km (apogee) |
| Orbit period | 72 hr |
| Launch date | 17 October 2002 |
| Deorbit date | ? |
| Mass | 4000 kg |
| Webpage | http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Integral/ |
| Physical Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Telescope Style | coded mask |
| Diameter | 3.7 m |
| Collecting Area | 500 cm2 (SPI and JEM-X) , 3100 cm2 (IBIS) |
| Effective Focal Length | N/A |
| Instruments | |
| SPI | spectrometer |
| IBIS | imager |
| JEM-X | X-ray monitor |
| OMC | optical monitor |
The European Space Agency's INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) is detecting some of the most energetic radiation that comes from space. It is the most sensitive gamma ray observatory ever launched.
INTEGRAL is an ESA mission in cooperation with the Russian Space Agency and NASA. It has had some notable successes, for example in detecting a myterious 'iron quasar'. It has also had great success in investigating gamma-ray bursters and evidence for black holes. INTEGRAL's orbit has a period of roughly 72 hours, and has a high eccentricity, with perigee close to the Earth at 10,000 km, within the magnetospheric radiation belt. However, most of each orbit is spent outside this region, where scientific observations may take place. It reaches a furthest distance from Earth (apogee) of 153,000 km. It is controlled from ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany, ESA's control centre.
External links
- INTEGRAL at ESA