Mission type | Infrared telescope |
---|---|
Operator | JAXA |
COSPAR ID | 2006-005A |
SATCAT no. | 28939 |
Website | global |
Mission duration | 5 years, 9 months |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | ISAS |
Launch mass | 952 kg (2,099 lb) |
Dimensions | 5.5 m × 1.9 m × 3.2 m (18.0 ft × 6.2 ft × 10.5 ft) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21:28,21 February 2006(UTC) [1] |
Rocket | M-V, mission M-V-8 |
Launch site | M-V Pad, Uchinoura Space Center |
End of mission | |
Disposal | decommissioned |
Deactivated | 24 November 2011 |
Decay date | 11 April 2023, 04:44 UTC |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Sun-synchronous |
Semi-major axis | 6,884 km (4,278 mi) [2] |
Eccentricity | 0.0129527 [2] |
Perigee altitude | 423.9 km (263.4 mi) [2] |
Apogee altitude | 602.3 km (374.3 mi) [2] |
Inclination | 98.2 degrees [2] |
Period | 94.7 minutes [2] |
RAAN | 305.9392 degrees [2] |
Argument of perigee | 124.2012 degrees [2] |
Mean anomaly | 354.1441 degrees [2] |
Mean motion | 15.1995622 rev/day [2] |
Epoch | 9 July 2015, 13:43:21 UTC [2] |
Revolution no. | 50455 [2] |
Main | |
Type | Ritchey–Chrétien |
Diameter | 0.67 m (2.2 ft) |
Focal length | 4.2 m (14 ft) |
Wavelengths | 1.7 to 180 μm (Infrared) |
Instruments | |
FIS: Far-Infrared Surveyor IRC: Infra-Red Camera | |
AKARI (ASTRO-F) was an infrared astronomy satellite developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, in cooperation with institutes of Europe and Korea. It was launched on 21 February 2006, at 21:28 UTC (06:28, 22 February JST) by M-V rocket into Earth Sun-synchronous orbit. After its launch it was named AKARI (明かり), which means light in Japanese. Earlier on, the project was known as IRIS (InfraRed Imaging Surveyor).
Its primary mission was to survey the entire sky in near-, mid- and far-infrared, through its 68.5 cm (27.0 in) aperture telescope. [3]
Its designed lifespan, of far- and mid-infrared sensors, was 550 days, limited by its liquid helium coolant. [4]
Its telescope mirror was made of silicon carbide to save weight. The budget for the satellite was ¥13,4 billion (~US$110 million). [5]
By mid-August 2006, AKARI finished around 50 per cent of the all sky survey. [6]
By early November 2006, first (phase-1) all-sky survey finished. Second (phase-2) all-sky survey started on 10 November 2006. [7]
Due to the malfunction of Sun sensor after the launch, ejection of telescope aperture lid was delayed, resulting in the coolant lifespan estimate being shortened to about 500 days from launch. However, after JAXA estimated the remaining helium during early March 2007, observation time was extended at least until 9 September. [8]
On 11 July 2007, JAXA informed that 90 per cent of the sky was scanned twice. Also around 3,500 selected targets have been observed so far. [9]
On 26 August 2007, liquid-Helium coolant depleted, which means the completion of far- and mid-infrared observation. More than 96 per cent of the sky was scanned and more than 5,000 pointed observations were done. [10]
British and Japanese project team members were awarded a Daiwa Adrian Prize in 2004, by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in recognition of their collaboration. [11]
During December 2007, JAXA performed orbit correction manoeuvres to bring AKARI back into its ideal orbit. This was necessary because the boiled off helium led to an increase in altitude. If this had continued, the energy supply would have been cut off. [12]
A limited observation 'warm' programme continued with just NIR.
In May 2011, AKARI suffered a major electrical failure and the batteries could not take full charge from the solar panels. As a result, its science instruments were rendered inoperable when the satellite was in the Earth's shadow. [3] The operation of satellite was terminated officially on 24 November 2011. [13] The satellite reentered the atmosphere on 11 April 2023 at 04:44 UTC. [14]
The AKARI All-Sky Survey Point Source Catalogues was released on 30 March 2010. [16] [17] [18]
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 514 (May 2010) was a feature issue of AKARI's results. [19]
A space telescope is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched in 1968, and the Soviet Orion 1 ultraviolet telescope aboard space station Salyut 1 in 1971. Space telescopes avoid several problems caused by the atmosphere, including the absorption or scattering of certain wavelengths of light, obstruction by clouds, and distortions due to atmospheric refraction such as twinkling. Space telescopes can also observe dim objects during the daytime, and they avoid light pollution which ground-based observatories encounter. They are divided into two types: Satellites which map the entire sky, and satellites which focus on selected astronomical objects or parts of the sky and beyond. Space telescopes are distinct from Earth imaging satellites, which point toward Earth for satellite imaging, applied for weather analysis, espionage, and other types of information gathering.
Infrared astronomy is a sub-discipline of astronomy which specializes in the observation and analysis of astronomical objects using infrared (IR) radiation. The wavelength of infrared light ranges from 0.75 to 300 micrometers, and falls in between visible radiation, which ranges from 380 to 750 nanometers, and submillimeter waves.
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) was the first space telescope to perform a survey of the entire night sky at infrared wavelengths. Launched on 25 January 1983, its mission lasted ten months. The telescope was a joint project of the United States (NASA), the Netherlands (NIVR), and the United Kingdom (SERC). Over 250,000 infrared sources were observed at 12, 25, 60, and 100 micrometer wavelengths.
The Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), was an infrared space telescope launched in 2003, that was deactivated when operations ended on 30 January 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicated to infrared astronomy, following IRAS (1983) and ISO (1995–1998). It was the first spacecraft to use an Earth-trailing orbit, later used by the Kepler planet-finder.
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was a space telescope for infrared light designed and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), in cooperation with ISAS and NASA. The ISO was designed to study infrared light at wavelengths of 2.5 to 240 micrometres and operated from 1995 to 1998.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon. Its motto is One JAXA and its corporate slogan is Explore to Realize.
NASA's series of Great Observatories satellites are four large, powerful space-based astronomical telescopes launched between 1990 and 2003. They were built with different technology to examine specific wavelength/energy regions of the electromagnetic spectrum: gamma rays, X-rays, visible and ultraviolet light, and infrared light.
The M-V rocket, also called M-5 or Mu-5, was a Japanese solid-fuel rocket designed to launch scientific satellites. It was a member of the Mu family of rockets. The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) began developing the M-V in 1990 at a cost of 15 billion yen. It has three stages and is 30.7 m (101 ft) high, 2.5 m in diameter, and weighs about 140,000 kg (310,000 lb). It was capable of launching a satellite weighing 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) into an orbit as high as 250 km (160 mi).
The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched until the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021. Herschel carries a 3.5-metre (11.5 ft) mirror and instruments sensitive to the far infrared and submillimetre wavebands (55–672 μm). Herschel was the fourth and final cornerstone mission in the Horizon 2000 programme, following SOHO/Cluster II, XMM-Newton and Rosetta.
The European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) near Madrid in Spain is a research centre of the European Space Agency (ESA). ESAC is the lead institution for space science using ESA missions. It hosts the science operation centres for all ESA astronomy and planetary missions and their scientific data archives. ESA's Cebreros Station deep-space communication antennas are located nearby.
Suzaku was an X-ray astronomy satellite developed jointly by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science at JAXA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to probe high-energy X-ray sources, such as supernova explosions, black holes and galactic clusters. It was launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V launch vehicle on the M-V-6 mission. After its successful launch, the satellite was renamed Suzaku after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South.
Wide-field Infrared Explorer was a NASA satellite launched on 5 March 1999, on the Pegasus XL launch vehicle into polar orbit between 409 and 426 km above the surface of Earth. WIRE was intended to be a four-month infrared survey of the entire sky at 21-27 μm and 9-15 μm, specifically focusing on starburst galaxies and luminous protogalaxies.
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer was a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in the Explorers Program launched in December 2009. WISE discovered thousands of minor planets and numerous star clusters. Its observations also supported the discovery of the first Y-type brown dwarf and Earth trojan asteroid. WISE performed an all-sky astronomical survey with images in 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 μm wavelength range bands, over ten months using a 40 cm (16 in) diameter infrared telescope in Earth orbit.
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Hitomi, also known as ASTRO-H and New X-ray Telescope (NeXT), was an X-ray astronomy satellite commissioned by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for studying extremely energetic processes in the Universe. The space observatory was designed to extend the research conducted by the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) by investigating the hard X-ray band above 10 keV. The satellite was originally called New X-ray Telescope; at the time of launch it was called ASTRO-H. After it was placed in orbit and its solar panels deployed, it was renamed Hitomi. The spacecraft was launched on 17 February 2016 and contact was lost on 26 March 2016, due to multiple incidents with the attitude control system leading to an uncontrolled spin rate and breakup of structurally weak elements.
The Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), was a proposed infrared space telescope, follow-on to the successful Akari space observatory. It was a collaboration between European and Japanese scientists, which was selected in May 2018 by the European Space Agency (ESA) as a finalist for the next Medium class Mission 5 (M5) of the Cosmic Vision programme, to launch in 2032. At the time the other two finalists were THESEUS and EnVision, with the latter that was eventually selected for further development. SPICA would have improved on the spectral line sensitivity of previous missions, the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes, between 30 and 230 μm by a factor of 50—100.
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