This image shows a typical one-day orbit of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. The orbital inclination is 28 degrees, at an average altitude of approximately 470 km. The colors correspond to the count rates recorded by all eight BATSE Large area detectors (datatype DISCLA Channel 2). The temporal resolution of this datatype is 1.024 seconds. Darker colors correspond to higher count rates. Note how the count rate increases at high latitudes.
The large gap in the orbit is the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). The high voltage power supply for the BATSE detectors is turned off when the spacecraft is in this region because of the high concentration of charged particles in the SAA. The SAA is due to the offset of the magnetic dipole field from the the center of the Earth, which causes charged particles to accumulate over the region.
| Author | Robert S. Mallozzi |
| Responsible Manager | Charles Meegan |
| Site Curator | Valerie Connaughton |