Questions (and Answers) About Cosmic High-Energy (X-ray & Gamma-Ray) Astronomy

How are the X-ray and gamma-ray energy bands defined?
What are the energy bands for the other various types of electromagnetic radiation?

How many individual X-ray sources are known currently?
How has the number grown since the first cosmic X-ray astronomical observations in 1962?

How do the sensitivity & angular resolution of current X-ray telescopes compare with previous ones?

What kinds of cosmic objects are X-ray emitters?

What are the brightest objects in the X-ray sky?

How many individual gamma-ray sources are known currently?
How has their number grown since the first gamma-ray astronomical observations in 1970?

How do the numbers of catalogued X-ray & gamma-ray sources compare with other energies?

How much X-ray and gamma-ray data are in the HEASARC's archive?

How much X-ray and gamma-ray data are being archived by the HEASARC every day? How much X-ray and gamma-ray data are downloaded by HEASARC users every day?


Please send information concerning dates/deadlines not currently included on this page and/or corrections to:

Stephen.A.Drake @ nasa.gov

Web page maintainer: Stephen A. Drake


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Last modified: Wednesday, 16-May-2012 14:56:07 EDT

HEASARC Staff Scientist Position - Applications are now being accepted for a Staff Scientist with significant experience and interest in the technical aspects of astrophysics research, to work in the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD. Refer to the AAS Job register for full details.