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History of X-ray telescopes and astronomy

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Abstract

The development of X-ray telescopes over the last 45 years is briefly summarized. The first applications to the study of solar X-ray emission are described up to the 1973 Skylab mission. The rather convoluted path that led to the first stellar X-ray orbiting telescope Einstein (1978) and later to Chandra (1999) are discussed. During this 45 years period the angular resolution improved from 20 to 0.5 arc sec and the sensitivity by ten billions. X-ray observations have discovered new types of stellar systems (binary X-ray sources containing neutron stars and black holes) and intergalactic high temperature plasmas containing most of the baryonic mass of the universe. They have become an indispensable tool to study the role of energetic phenomena in the creation and dynamic evolution of cosmic structures. The methodology introduced by X-ray astronomy has influenced all of astronomy.

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  1. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Riccardo Giacconi

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  1. Riccardo Giacconi
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Correspondence to Riccardo Giacconi.

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Giacconi, R. History of X-ray telescopes and astronomy. Exp Astron 25, 143–156 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-009-9139-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-009-9139-8

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