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Incoming links: Scorpius X-1
Riccardo Giacconi Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-11-05
Riccardo Giacconi pioneered X-ray astronomy using instruments carried above Earth's absorbing atmosphere. His team's 1962 rocket flight found a strong source outside the Solar system, later known as Scorpius X-1, together with a diffuse X-ray background.[ref]
Evidence for x Rays From Sources Outside the Solar System by Riccardo Giacconi and others. pp. 439–443: rocket-counter observations and directional excess
His Nobel lecture traces the subsequent transition from brief rocket measurements to more sensitive surveys and imaging instruments. Increasing collecting area, observing duration and angular resolving power changed the questions that could be asked: sources could be located, separated and studied as physical systems.[ref]
The Dawn of X-Ray Astronomy by Riccardo Giacconi. Historical account of the first extrasolar X-ray source and development of X-ray observatories
Portrait of Riccardo Giacconi
. ESO; distributed through the International Astronomical Union, image ann18062a. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, as stated for this IAU-distributed image., via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
Scorpius X-1 2026-10-18
Scorpius X-1 is the celestial X-ray source associated with the 1962 discovery, subsequently located more precisely. The discovery scan did not supply a resolved image of this X-ray binary.[ref]
Tracing a Bright Path by NASA HEASARC. Tracing a Bright Path: discovery scan and identification