Artist's conception of BeppoSax in space (credit: the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and BeppoSAX Science Data Center (SDC))
Names
Satellite per Astronomia X
Mission type
X-ray astronomy
Operator
ASI / NIVR
COSPAR ID
1996-027A
SATCAT no.
23857
Website
www.asdc.asi.it/bepposax/
Mission duration
7 years
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer
Alenia CNR
Launch mass
3,100 lb (1,400 kg)
Payload mass
1,060 lb (480 kg)ù
Dimensions
3.6 m × 2.7 m (11.8 ft × 8.9 ft)
Power
800 W
Start of mission
Launch date
04:31, April 30, 1996 (UTC) (1996-04-30T04:31UTC)
Rocket
Atlas-Centaur AC-78
Launch site
LC-36B, Cape Canaveral
End of mission
Disposal
decommissioned
Deactivated
13:38, April 30, 2002 (UTC) (2002-04-30T13:38UTC)
Decay date
22:06, April 29, 2003 (UTC) (2003-04-29T22:06UTC)
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Geocentric
Regime
Low Earth
Eccentricity
0.00136
Perigee altitude
575 km (357 mi)
Apogee altitude
594 km (369 mi)
Inclination
4 degrees
Period
96.4 minutes
Epoch
30 April 1996, 03:31 UTC[1]
Main telescope
Type
approximated Wolter type I Coded mask telescope (WFC)
Diameter
6.8 to 16.2 cm (2.7 to 6.4 in)
Focal length
1.85 m (6.1 ft)
Collecting area
22 to 600 cm2 (3.4 to 93.0 sq in)
Wavelengths
X-ray to gamma ray, 12 nm–4 pm (0.1–300 keV)
Instruments
LECS
Low Energy Concentrator Spectrometer
MECS
Medium Energy Concentrator Spectrometer
HPGSPC
High Pressure Gas Scintillation Proportional Counter
PDS
Phoswich Detector System
WFC
Wide Field Camera
BeppoSAX was an Italian–Dutch satellite for X-ray astronomy which played a crucial role in resolving the origin of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most energetic events known in the universe. It was the first X-ray mission capable of simultaneously observing targets over more than 3 decades of energy, from 0.1 to 300 kiloelectronvolts (keV) with relatively large area, good (for the time) energy resolution and imaging capabilities (with a spatial resolution of 1 arc minute between 0.1 and 10 keV). BeppoSAX was a major programme of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) with the participation of the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programmes (NIVR). The prime contractor for the space segment was Alenia while Nuova Telespazio led the development of the ground segment. Most of the scientific instruments were developed by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) while the Wide Field Cameras were developed by the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON) and the LECS was developed by the astrophysics division of the European Space Agency's ESTEC facility.[2]
BeppoSAX was named in honour of the Italian physicist Giuseppe "Beppo" Occhialini. SAX stands for "Satellite per Astronomia a raggi X" or "Satellite for X-ray Astronomy".[2]
X-ray observations cannot be performed from ground-based telescopes, since Earth's atmosphere blocks most of the incoming radiation. One of BeppoSAX's main achievements was the identification of numerous gamma-ray bursts with extra-galactic objects.[3]
Launched by an Atlas-Centaur on 30 April 1996 into a low inclination (<4 degree) low-Earth orbit, the expected operating life of two years was extended to April 30, 2002, due to high scientific interest in the mission and the continued good technical status. After this date, the orbit started to decay rapidly and various subsystems were starting to fail making it no longer worthwhile to conduct scientific observations.[4][5]
On April 29, 2003, the satellite ended its life falling into the Pacific Ocean.[6]
^"NASA, NSSDC Master Catalog: 1996-027A". NASA. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
^ ab"Mission overview". Italian National Institute of Astrophysics. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
^Feroci, Marco. "Observation of Gamma-Ray Bursts by BeppoSAX" (PDF). Stanford University. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
^Cleary, Mark. "Atlas and Titan Space Operations at Cape Canaveral 1993-2006" (PDF). USAF 45th Space Wing History Office. Air Force Space Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
^Cite error: The named reference saxstat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Latest news from the BeppoSAX project". Italian Space Agency. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
Space Agency's ESTEC facility. BeppoSAX was named in honour of the Italian physicist Giuseppe "Beppo" Occhialini. SAX stands for "Satellite per Astronomia...
after him. The satellite SAX, the first Italian satellite for the study of gamma rays, was renamed BeppoSAX from his nickname "Beppo", which is a diminutive...
Shoemaker to shut down to prevent damage and to saturate instruments on BeppoSAX, WIND and RXTE. On May 29, 2008, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope discovered...
researchers from the Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy; the Italian BeppoSAX satellite, launched in April 1996; HETE 2 was launched on 9 October 2000...
GRB 980425 was first detected by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor onboard BeppoSAX on 25 April 1998 at 21:49 UTC. The burst lasted approximately 30 seconds...
such as black hole mergers. In February 1997, Dutch-Italian satellite BeppoSAX was able to trace GRB 970508 to a faint galaxy roughly 6 billion light...
trademark term for a type of AC armoured electrical cable BeppoSAX catalog, also called SAX and 1SAX Brix (°Bx), measurement unit of the dissolved sugar-to-water...
observatories were focusing on the event, by then designated "GRB 990123". The BeppoSAX satellite had also seen the burst, and pinned down its location to within...
(2002). "Nuclear and global X-ray properties of LINER galaxies: Chandra and BeppoSAX results for Sombrero and NGC 4736". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 383 (1):...
detected by BeppoSAX, an Italian–Dutch satellite originally designed to study X-rays. On Thursday May 8, 1997, at 21:42 UTC, BeppoSAX's Gamma Ray Burst...
Burst Monitor (GRBM) and one of the Wide Field Cameras (WFCs) on board BeppoSAX, an Italian–Dutch satellite originally designed to study X-rays. The burst...
L.; In 't Zand, J. J. M.; Frontera, F.; Dal Fiume, D.; et al. (1998). "BeppoSAX follow-up search for the X-ray afterglow of GRB970111". Astronomy and Astrophysics...
Telescope XRT (1985) Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) – ASM (1995–2012) BeppoSAX – Wide Field Camera (1996–2002) INTEGRAL – IBIS and SPI (2002–present)...
satellite mission was BeppoSAX, developed in collaboration with the Netherlands and launched in 1996. Named after Giuseppe “Beppo” Occhialini, an important...
follow up observations of events detected by several spacecraft (BATSE, BeppoSAX, RossiXTE, IPN, Hete-2, Swift, and Fermi). Results in the GRB field are...
Argentina, based in Buenos Aires, is established. On 30 April 1996, the BeppoSAX scientific satellite, operated by the firm, was launched. In the following...
and internationally publicized the scientific goals of the Italian-Dutch BeppoSAX mission before its launch. In recognition of his contributions to astrophysics...
mid-1997. Prior experiences including observations of GRBs in early 1997 by BeppoSAX and ground-based telescopes indicated that "the effect of background electrons...
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