Records, 1973-1985

Descriptive Entry

This record unit consists of administrative memoranda distributed by Benson Rowe, the Program Manager for the Division. The memoranda concern budgets and expenditures, personnel actions, travel and work requests, and other administrative matters. They do not contain the product of the Division's scientific research, although budgeting and administrative support for that research are well documented.

Historical Note

The High Energy Astrophysics Division of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is primarily involved in the study of X-ray emission from celestial sources, including such objects as pulsars, quasars, neutron stars, and black holes. X-ray astronomy must be carried out from space. The Division was established in 1973 to analyze data from satellite-borne X-ray detection instruments and to develop and plan instrumentation for future orbiting observatories. In the period covered by these records the efforts of the High Energy Astrophysics Division centered on data from the Uhuru and Einstein satellites and planning for the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility. Riccardo Giacconi was named Associate Director of the Division in 1973. In 1981 Harvey D. Tananbaum became Associate Director of the Division.