Observation of celestial high energy gamma rays from SAS-IIThe Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS)-II, launched on Nov. 15, 1973, carried into orbit a 32-deck magnetic-core digitized-spark-chamber gamma-ray telescope to study celestial gamma radiation in the energy range above 30 MeV. As of May 21, 1973, SAS-II had viewed approximately half the sky, including the galactic center region, the galactic anti-center, and several regions off the galactic plane, and about one-third of the data from eight weeks of viewing has been analyzed. A finite diffuse flux for regions with galactic latitudes greater than 20 deg has been detected with a very steep energy spectrum. Combining this result with low-energy gamma-ray data yields a picture suggesting a cosmological origin for this radiation.
Document ID
19740047423
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Fichtel, C. E.
Hartman, R. C.
Kniffen, D. A. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Md., United States)