Suzaku Special Exhibit
The X-ray Imaging Spectrometer
A close-up view of one of the four XIS units. (Credit: NASA/ISAS/JAXA)
There were four XIS detectors on Suzaku, each using a charge-coupled device (CCD) to detect the X-rays. These CCDs converted the X-ray photon into a cloud of electrons, where the total charge of the cloud is proportional to the X-ray energy. This cloud was moved (by voltages applied to the chip) in bucket-brigade fashion across the CCD chip and measured at the end as an electric charge. The charge measurement gives a very accurate estimate of the energy of the original X-ray. Each CCD consists of 1024 by 1024 pixels, and is about 25 mm on a side. Each one covers a region on the sky 18 by 18 arc minutes.
Each XIS detector is at the focal point of its own X-Ray Telescope.
The four Suzaku X-ray Imaging Spectrometers. (Credit: NASA/ISAS/JAXA)
Published: July 2005
Text Reviewed: September 2018