Latest news: No signal from the satellite could be detected during the last full sun orbit period (November 27 until Dezember 2). On July 1st 1999 DLR has declared that the scientific mission of ABRIXAS failed. For more information see press release (in German). radar measurements and optical sightings suggest that ABRIXAS rotated in about 300 seconds (July 1999) around the axis perpendicular to its solar panel; the period is slightly increasing. However, the orientation of the rotation axis is not completely known so that the pointing of the solar panel towards the sun is still unclear.

ABRIXAS is a small satellite mission which was planned to observe the X-ray sky in the energy band 0.5-10 keV. Launched in spring 1999 ABRIXAS should continuously scan the sky for three years with an imaging telescope, resulting in an all-sky survey.

General Information Scientific goals Details Links

Image Gallery ABRIXAS vilibility ABRIXAS in the News X-rays and X-ray astronomy

Peter Friedrich: pfriedrich@aip.de last changed: 05-Jan-2000

X-ray home

AIP home