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Reference.org
Rotational modulation collimator
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<p>Rotational modulation collimators (or RMCs) are a specialization of the modulation collimator, an imaging device invented by Minoru Oda [fr; de]. Devices of this type create images of high energy <a href="/facts/X-ray/wseP79cN">X-rays</a> (or other radiations that cast shadows). Since high energy X-rays are not easily focused, such optics have found applications in various instruments. RMCs selectively block and unblock X-rays in a way which depends on their incoming direction, converting image information into time variations. Various mathematical transformations can then reconstitute the image of the source. </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Small_Astronomy_Satellite_3/7XxT9Whc">Small Astronomy Satellite 3</a>, launched in 1975, was one orbiting experiment that used RMCs. A more recent satellite that used RMCs was <a href="/facts/RHESSI/AHpjvyzW">RHESSI</a>. </p>