- X-Ray
Spectrometer (XRS):
a microcarolimeter, with 30 pixels, with
especially good spectral
resolution. Covers 0.3-10 keV.
- X-ray Imaging
Spectrometers (XIS):
a set of 4 CCD cameras, with
1 million pixels each, for making X-ray images. Covers 0.2-10 keV.
- Hard X-ray
Detector (HXD):
a single 16-element detector for high energy X-rays (10-700 keV).
Suzaku also has five foil
X-Ray
Telescopes (XRTs),
four of which will be in front of an XIS, the fifth will be
in front of the XRS. These telescopes collect and focus X-rays so
the XRS and the XISs can do their work.
With some satellites, you have a choice of instruments - you can use
only one instrument at a time. Suzaku is different.
You can use all three types of instruments at the same time,
observing the same part of the X-ray sky.
The diagram (above left) shows a schematic of the Suzaku satellite.
You can see that the XRTs for the XRS and XIS are at the top of the satellite;
the XRS is on eht left-hand side, the XISs are in the center, and the HXD is
on the right. The picture (above right) is a photo of an engineering
model - not the real Suzaku satellite but very similar -
without its outer panels. The big round structure in the lower middle
is the solid neon tank of the XRS.
In the rest of this section, we will describe these instruments
in more detail. You will learn what they are designed to do, how
they work, and the differences among all three of the instruments.
One of the instruments aboard Suzaku, the XRS, is a major
advance over previous instruments aboard other X-ray astronomy satellites,
and we expect that it will lead to many scientific advances.
The science
goals of Suzaku have been strongly influenced by the
properties of this instrument.
The XRS is an international collaboration between groups in Japan
and the US. You can trace the progress of the XRS from the US
to Japan and (soon) space at
Road
Trip page, as told from the viewpoint of the XRS itself.
