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X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) on Board Suzaku
Hamaguchi, Kenji; Dotani, Tadayasu; Miller, Eric D. +43 more
The XIS is an X-ray Imaging Spectrometer system, consisting of state-of-the-art charge-coupled devices (CCDs) optimized for X-ray detection, camera bodies, and control electronics. Four sets of XIS sensors are placed at the focal planes of the grazing-incidence, nested thin-foil mirrors (XRT: X-Ray Telescope) onboard the Suzaku satellite. Three of…
The X-Ray Observatory Suzaku
Hamaguchi, Kenji; White, Nicholas E.; Isobe, Naoki +140 more
High-sensitivity wide-band X-ray spectroscopy is the key feature of the Suzaku X-ray observatory, launched on 2005 July 10. This paper summarizes the spacecraft, in-orbit performance, operations, and data processing that are related to observations. The scientific instruments, the high-throughput X-ray telescopes, X-ray CCD cameras, non-imaging ha…
The Infrared Astronomical Mission AKARI*
Goto, Tomotsugu; Nakagawa, Takao; Shirahata, Mai +90 more
AKARI, the first Japanese satellite dedicated to infrared astronomy, was launched on 2006 February 21, and started observations in May of the same year. AKARI has a 68.5 cm cooled telescope, together with two focal-plane instruments, which survey the sky in six wavelength bands from the mid- to far-infrared. The instruments also have the capabilit…
Hard X-Ray Detector (HXD) on Board Suzaku
Isobe, Naoki; Yamaoka, Kazutaka; Fukazawa, Yasushi +66 more
The Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) on board Suzaku covers a wide energy range from 10keV to 600keV by the combination of silicon PIN diodes and GSO scintillators. The HXD is designed to achieve an extremely low in-orbit background based on a combination of new techniques, including the concept of a well-type active shield counter. With an effective are…
The Infrared Camera (IRC) for AKARI -- Design and Imaging Performance
Pearson, C. P.; Ohyama, Y.; Takagi, T. +25 more
The Infrared Camera (IRC) is one of two focal-plane instruments on the AKARI satellite. It is designed for wide-field deep imaging and low-resolution spectroscopy in the near- to mid-infrared (1.8-26.5'
The X-Ray Telescope onboard Suzaku
Maeda, Yoshitomo; Ishida, Manabu; Kunieda, Hideyo +31 more
Monte Carlo Simulator and Ancillary Response Generator of Suzaku XRT/XIS System for Spatially Extended Source Analysis
Hamaguchi, Kenji; Miller, Eric D.; Maeda, Yoshitomo +31 more
We have developed a framework for the Monte Carlo simulations of X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) on board Suzaku, mainly for the scientific analysis of spatially and spectroscopically complex celestial sources. A photon-by-photon instrumental simulator is built on the ANL platform, which has been successfully used in ASC…
A Tale of Two Spicules: The Impact of Spicules on the Magnetic Chromosphere
Carlsson, Mats; Tsuneta, Saku; Shimizu, Toshifumi +11 more
We use high-resolution observations of the Sun in CaIIH (3968Å) from the Solar Optical Telescope on Hinode to show that there are at least two types of spicules that dominate the structure of the magnetic solar chromosphere. Both types are tied to the relentless magnetoconvective driving in the photosphere, but have very different dynamic properti…
The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) for AKARI
Lee, H. M.; White, G. J.; Wang, L. +57 more
The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) is one of two focal-plane instruments on the AKARI satellite. FIS has four photometric bands at 65, 90, 140, and 160 µm, and uses two kinds of array detectors. The FIS arrays and optics are designed to sweep the sky with high spatial resolution and redundancy. The actual scan width is more than eight arcminutes, and…
In-Orbit Performance of the Hard X-Ray Detector on Board Suzaku
Isobe, Naoki; Enoto, Teruaki; Yamaoka, Kazutaka +55 more
The in-orbit performance and calibration of the Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) on board the X-ray astronomy satellite Suzaku are described. Its basic performances, including a wide energy bandpass of 10-600keV, energy resolutions of ∼4keV (FWHM) at 40keV and ∼11% at 511keV, and a high background rejection efficiency, have been confirmed by extensive in…