Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) A NASA satellite launched in 1991April to observe gamma rays from celestial objects. CGRO was the second of the series of Great Observatories. It was deorbited in 2000June. The satellite carried four instruments covering the energy range 10 keV to 30 GeV (4 × 10⁻⁸ to 0.124 nm). The BATSE (Burst and Transient Source Experiment) instrument studied gamma-ray bursts, while OSSE (Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment), Comptel (Imaging Compton Telescope), and EGRET (Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope) recorded images of the gamma-ray sky in the 0.1–10 MeV (1.2 × 10⁻⁴ to 0.012 nm), 1–30 MeV (4 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.24 × 10⁻³ nm), and 0.02–30 GeV (4 × 10⁻⁸ to 6 × 10⁻⁵ nm) ranges respectively. The satellite was named after the American physicist Arthur Holly Compton (1892–1962). http://cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cgro/