A&A Supplement series, Vol. 122, April II 1997, 327-340
Received May 15; accepted October 21, 1996
G. Boella
- L. Chiappetti
- G. Conti
- G. Cusumano
- S. Del Sordo
- G. La Rosa
- M.C. Maccarone
- T. Mineo
- S. Molendi
- S. Re
- B. Sacco
- M. Tripiciano
Send offprint request: M.C. Maccarone:cettina@ifcai.pa.cnr.it
CNR - Istituto di Fisica Cosmica e Tecnologie Relative,
Via Bassini 15, 20133 Milano, Italy
CNR - Istituto di Fisica Cosmica ed Applicazioni dell'Informatica,
Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Dip. Fisica, Università di Milano,
Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
The scientific instrumentation on board the X-ray Astronomy Satellite
BeppoSAX includes a Medium Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (MECS), operating
in the energy range 
keV, which consists of three units,
each composed of a grazing incidence Mirror Unit
and of a position sensitive Gas Scintillation Proportional Counter.
The design and performance of the MECS instrument are here described,
together with its on-ground calibration.
keywords: instrumentation: detectors -- X-rays: general