Science, Vol 263, Issue 5143, 55-59
Copyright © 1994 by American Association for the Advancement of Science
Astronomy and the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite
S Bowyer
Center for EUV Astrophysics, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.
The extreme ultraviolet wave band (100 to 912 angstroms) was thought until recently to be useless to astronomy, primarily because the opacity of the interstellar medium would prevent observations at these wavelengths. However, the interstellar medium has been found to be markedly inhomogeneous in both density and ionization state and the sun is fortunately located in a region of low extreme ultraviolet opacity. The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, launched in June 1992, has surveyed the sky in this wave band and has detected a wide variety of astronomical sources at considerable distances, including some extragalactic objects. Studies in the extreme ultraviolet band have already begun to increase our understanding of the contents of the universe.
