The IUE (International Ultra-Violett Explorer,
formerly SAS-D) satellite was a ultraviolet astronomical observatory for
use as an international facility. The IUE contained a 45-cm telescope solely for
spectroscopy in the wavelength range o 1150 to 3250 A. The satellite and optical
instrumentation were provided by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The television
cameras, used as detectors, were provided by the United Kingdom Science Engineering
Research Council (SERC, formerly UKSRC). The European Space Agency (ESA, formerly ESRO)
supplied solar paddles for the satellite and a European Control Center. After launch,
two-thirds of the observing time was directed from a control center at GSFC; one-third of
the time the satellite was operated from the European Control Center near Madrid. The IUE
observatory was in a quasi-synchronous orbit.
The 45 cm Ritchey-Chretien f/15 telescope fed a spectrograph package. The spectrograph
package, using secondary electron conduction (SEC) Vidicon cameras as detectors, covered
the spectral range from 1150 to 3250 A, operating in either a high- or low-resolution mode
with resolutions of approximately 0.1 and 6 A, respectively. The SEC Vidicons could
integrate the signal for up to many hours. At high resolution, spectra of stellar sources
were obtained as faint as 12th magnitude, while at lower resolution, observations had been
made of sources fainter than 17th magnitude. The latter observations required 14 hours of
integration time.
IUE was shut down at 18:42 UT, 30 September 1996.
.png)
