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Spectrograph, Lyman Alpha, Aerobee

Display Status:
This object is on display in the Rockets & Missiles exhibition station at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.


Spectrograph, Lyman Alpha, Aerobee

 

  • Summary

Manufacturer:   Naval Research Laboratory

Country of Origin: United States of America

Dimensions:
3-D Test: 94 x 25.4 x 12.7cm (37 x 10 x 5 in.)

Materials:
Metallic shell with optics and electronics Glass optics

High-dispersion Echelle spectrograph designed at the Naval Research Laboratory to be flown on Aerobee sounding rockets in the late 1950s to observe the solar Lyman-alpha region. The instrument was stabilized in a servo-controlled cradle and locked onto the sun during the short rocket flight. The Lyman alpha emission line is found in spectra from high energy transitions of hydrogen atoms such as occur in the solar atmosphere. Its location in the ultraviolet region at 1216 angstroms means that it can only be observed from above the Earth's atmosphere.

Transferred from the Naval Research Laboratory in 1984.

Transferred from the Naval Research Laboratory


Inventory number: A19840021000