CGRO (Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory)

A graphic of CGRO is shown in light and dark shades of blue. The body of the spacecraft is rectangular, topped with two circular objects. Solar panels extend to either side, and a long pole with a small satellite dish at the end extends from the front end of the spacecraft.
CreditNASA
Historical DateDecember 20, 2022
Language
  • english

An illustration of NASA’s CGRO spacecraft. The colors depicted in this illustration are for artistic purposes only.

CGRO, one of NASA's Great Observatories, studied the gamma-ray sky using four telescopes that detected different energies. The mission found a class of active galaxies called blazars, mapped the Milky Way’s distribution of a radioactive isotope of aluminum, and hinted at gamma-ray bursts’ cosmological origins, among other discoveries.

Launched: April 5, 1991
Decommissioned: June 4, 2000