COS-B
The COS-B satellite (Credit: ESA)
Lifetime: August 1975 - April 1982
Operator (primary): European Space Research Organization
Primary Science
The primary science of COS-B was to study in detail the sources of extraterrestrial gamma-rays at energies above 30 MeV.
Science Highlights
- Compiled catalog of 25 gamma-rya sources (the 2CG Catalog)
- Studied binary system, Cygnus X-3, which contained a pulsar and gamma-ray emitter
- Made gamma-ray lightcurves of the Vela and Crab nebulas
- Made the first gamma-ray map of the Galactic plane
- First gamma-ray observations of an active galactic nuclues