1. The Astro-H high resolution soft x-ray spectrometer
- Author
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Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Meng P. Chiao, Mina Ogawa, Maurice A. Leutenegger, Hiromi Seta, Kevin R. Boyce, Shinya Yamada, Kazuhiro Sakai, Yoh Takei, Richard L. Kelley, Phillipp Azzarell, Atsushi Okamoto, Y. Sato, Megan E. Eckart, Takaya Ohashi, Harvey Moseley, Hiroki Akamatsu, Mark O. Kimball, Akio Hoshino, Gary A. Sneiderman, Andrew Szymkowiak, Caroline A. Kilbourne, Keisuke Shinozaki, Noriko Y. Yamasaki, Peter Shirron, Kosuke Sato, Shunji Kitamoto, Naoko Iyomoto, Yukikatsu Terada, Tom Bialas, Cor P. de Vries, Shu Koyama, Edgar Canavan, Yuichiro Ezoe, Jan-Willem den Herder, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Elisa Costantini, Hiroyuki Sugita, D. Haas, Hiroshi Murakami, Saori Konami, Makoto Tashiro, Masahide Murakami, Yoshitaka Ishisaki, Dan McCammon, Yoichi Yatsu, Makoto Sawada, Gregory V. Brown, Naomi Ota, Joseph Miko, Masahiro Tsujimoto, Ryuichi Fujimoto, S. Paltani, Toru Tamagawa, F. Scott Porter, Michael J. DiPirro, Kumi Ishikawa, and Hirofumi Noda
- Subjects
Physics ,Range (particle radiation) ,Spectrometer ,business.industry ,Liquid helium ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Resolution (electron density) ,Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,Galaxy ,law.invention ,010309 optics ,Telescope ,Optics ,law ,0103 physical sciences ,Orbit (dynamics) ,business ,Spectroscopy ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics - Abstract
We present the overall design and performance of the Astro-H (Hitomi) Soft X-Ray Spectrometer (SXS). The instrument uses a 36-pixel array of x-ray microcalorimeters at the focus of a grazing-incidence x-ray mirror Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT) for high-resolution spectroscopy of celestial x-ray sources. The instrument was designed to achieve an energy resolution better than 7 eV over the 0.3-12 keV energy range and operate for more than 3 years in orbit. The actual energy resolution of the instrument is 4-5 eV as demonstrated during extensive ground testing prior to launch and in orbit. The measured mass flow rate of the liquid helium cryogen and initial fill level at launch predict a lifetime of more than 4 years assuming steady mechanical cooler performance. Cryogen-free operation was successfully demonstrated prior to launch. The successful operation of the SXS in orbit, including the first observations of the velocity structure of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, demonstrates the viability and power of this technology as a tool for astrophysics.
- Published
- 2016
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