Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics

ASCA (formerly named ASTRO-D) is Japan's fourth cosmic X-ray astronomy mission, and the second for which the United States is providing part of the scientific payload. The satellite was successfully launched February 20, 1993. After 8 years of observation, its altitude control was lost in 2000, and it re-entered to atmosphere in 2001.

Highlights

 * Broad Fe lines from AGN, probing the strong gravity near the central engine
 * Lower than solar Fe abundance in the coronae of active stars
 * Spectroscopy of interacting binaries
 * Non-thermal X-rays from SN 1006, a site of Cosmic Ray acceleration
 * Abundances of heavy elements in clusters of galaxies, consistent with type II supernova origin