Tenma


Tenma

(ten -mă) A Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite launched in Feb. 1983. Like its predecessor, the satellite Hakucho, it was designed to study time variability and spectra of the brighter galactic and extragalactic X-ray sources. A feature of the satellite payload was a large area (˜800 cm2) gas scintillation proportional counter (SPC). This SPC had an energy resolution a factor of two better than conventional proportional counters in the 1–50 keV band and provided impressive spectral data, particularly of the iron-line complex and absorption edges seen in many cosmic sources at 6–8 keV.