Suzaku (formerly ASTRO-EII) was an X-ray astronomy satellite developed jointly by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science at JAXA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to probe high-energy X-ray sources, such as supernova explosions, black holes and galactic clusters. It was launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V launch vehicle on the M-V-6 mission. After its successful launch, the satellite was renamed Suzaku after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South.

Spacecraft instruments

Suzaku carried high spectroscopic resolution, very wide energy band instruments for detecting signals ranging from soft X-rays up to gamma-rays (0.3–600 keV). High-resolution spectroscopy and wide-band are essential factors in physically investigating high-energy astronomical phenomena, such as black holes and supernovas. One such feature, the K-line (x-ray), may be key to more direct imaging of black holes.

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File:ASTRO-EII XRT.JPG|X-ray Telescope (XRT) – four units (spatial resolution ~2', with field of view of about 17')

File:Suzaku HXD.jpg|Hard X-ray Detector (HXD). Uses Gadolinium Silicate crystal (GSO), Gd<sub>2</sub>SiO<sub>5</sub>(Ce); uses Bismuth Germanate crystal (BGO), Bi<sub>4</sub>Ge<sub>3</sub>O<sub>12</sub> Mission operators decided to complete the mission imminently, as Suzaku had exceeded its design lifespan by eight years at this point. The mission came to an end on 2 September 2015, when JAXA commanded the radio transmitters on Suzaku to switch themselves off.

Results

thumb|In a supernova remnant known as the Jellyfish Nebula, Suzaku detected X-rays from fully ionized silicon and sulfu.

Suzaku discovered "fossil" light from a supernova remnant.

ASTRO-E

Suzaku was a replacement for ASTRO-E, which was lost in a launch failure. The M-V launch vehicle on the M-V-4 mission launched on 10 February 2000 at 01:30:00 UTC. It experienced a failure of 1st stage engine nozzle 42 seconds into the launch, causing control system breakdown and underperformance. Later stages could not compensate for underperformance, leaving payload in x orbit and subsequent reentry and crashed with its payload into the Indian Ocean.

References

Further reading

  • Special Issue: First Results from Suzaku Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. Vol. 59, No. SP1 30 January 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  • X-ray Astronomy Satellite "Suzaku" (ASTRO-EII) (JAXA)
  • JAXA/ISAS Suzaku (ASTRO-EII) mission overview
  • JAXA/ISAS Suzaku Information for Researchers
  • JAXA report presentation of failure analysis of XRS (in Japanese)
  • NASA ASTRO-EII mission description
  • NASA/GSFC Suzaku Learning Center
  • NASA/GSFC XRS-2 project page