Suzaku

List all Suzaku datasets

Suzaku (ASTRO-E2)

Mission Descriptions

Overview

"Suzaku" (ASTRO-E2) is an X-ray astronomy satellite developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with some observation instruments jointly developed with NASA. The mission's goal is to elucidate high-energy astrophysical phenomena, such as black holes, galaxy clusters, and supernova remnants, through observations in the high-energy X-ray region.

"Suzaku" was launched on July 10, 2005, conducted its first observation on August 13, 2005, and continued scientific observations for approximately 10 years until it ceased operations in August 2015. It orbited the Earth in a circular orbit at an altitude of about 550 km. The satellite weighs approximately 1.7 tons and continuously controlled its observation direction, observing various X-ray celestial objects across a wide energy range (0.3-600 keV) that was previously unobservable.

Observation Instruments

X-Ray Telescope (XRT)

XRT is designed to observe the energy band from 0.3 to 12 keV. The main role of XRT is to collect X-rays and direct them to the detectors placed at the focal plane, enabling observations with high spatial resolution and sensitivity.

X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS)

XIS detects the X-rays collected by XRT and analyzes their energy distribution. This instrument has high energy resolution across a wide energy band (0.2-12 keV). The basic principle of XIS is to measure the charge generated when X-ray photons are incident on a semiconductor detector.

Hard X-ray Detector (HXD)

HXD is designed to observe high-energy X-rays in the range of 10-600 keV. HXD is a hybrid detector combining silicon detectors and scintillators, enabling high-sensitivity observations across a wide energy band. This contributes to understanding high-energy astrophysical phenomena.

Wide-band All-sky Monitor (WAM)

WAM, part of HXD, is a wide-band all-sky monitor covering the energy range from 50 keV to 5 MeV. It is used to detect transient high-energy phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and solar flares. The detector uses scintillators and has a high sensitivity and wide field of view, covering a broad area of the sky.

X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS)

XRS is another major observation instrument on the Suzaku satellite, designed to obtain high-resolution X-ray spectra using a microcalorimeter spectrometer. XRS can observe X-rays in the energy range from 0.3 to 12 keV. Unfortunately, the essential coolant for its operation evaporated after launch, causing the instrument to cease functioning.

Achievements

Through about 10 years of scientific observations, "Suzaku" has made numerous significant achievements. Detailed observations of the hot gas within galaxy clusters have provided new insights into the processes of cosmic structure formation and evolution. It also provided concrete data on the inflow of matter into black holes and the associated high-energy phenomena. Furthermore, "Suzaku" offered new clues on how high-energy particles are accelerated. These achievements are attributed to the world-class sensitivity of "Suzaku's" observation capabilities, greatly contributing to the advancement of astrophysics. While the "Suzaku" mission ended in August 2015, the data obtained continues to be utilized in many research studies.

Refereneces

Instrument paper

Datasets