Suzaku, formerly Astro-E2, is the fifth Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA). It was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center (USC) on 2005 July 10. Suzaku is the second ISAS X-ray astronomy satellite built in close collaboration with National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC).
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In chapter 2, Suzaku operation and types of observations are briefly explained. Suzaku software design principles and agreements are presented in chapter 3. Further details of software are described in chapters 4, 5, and 6. Important issues regarding the calibration are given in chapter 7. Tasks regarding the Guest Observer support are shown in chapter 8, and Suzaku archives are explained in chapter 9.
In appendix A, acronyms used in this document are defined. Guidelines for FTOOLS developers are described in appendix B. A flow chart of the pipe-line processing is displayed in appendix C. Coordinate system of each detector is listed in appendix D.
Suzaku was launched with three types of instruments on-board, covering a wide range of energies. The X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) is the first micro-calorimeter based X-ray instrument to be launched into orbit. Although it prematurely lost all its cryogen shortly after launch and therefore stopped operation before it could obtain astronomically useful data, the XRS had an excellent energy resolution ( 6-7 eV) over its 0.3-12 keV bandpass.
The 4 units of X-ray Imaging Spectrometers (XISs) are CCD cameras, providing moderate spectral resolution over 0.2-12 keV ( eV at 6 keV). There are five X-Ray Telescopes (XRTs) on-board Suzaku, one in front of the XRS and the other four in front of the XISs, providing high throughput and modest spatial resolution. The field of view (FOV) of XRT + XIS is 1919 with a spatial resolution of about 2 half-power diameter (HPD).
The Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) is a non-imaging, collimated instrument that covers the energy band 10-700 keV using two types of detectors, PIN (10-60 keV) and GSO (50-700 keV). The full width at half maximum (FWHM) spectral resolution is 3 keV for the PIN detector and 10 % at 600 keV for the GSO detector. The innovative design of the HXD results in low background and, hence, high sensitivity.
All instruments operate simultaneously and are co-aligned, so that a given target can be observed over 0.2-700 keV at high sensitivity and with good spectral resolution. This makes Suzaku a powerful observatory for a wide range of astronomical objects. In addition, the background detectors of the HXD can be used to monitor a wide area of the sky.
The Suzaku Guest Observer Facility (GOF) is located at NASA's GSFC within the Office of General Investigator Programs (OGIP). Besides the Suzaku GOF, OGIP contains the High Energy Astrophysical Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) and GOFs for other major high energy missions. The HEASARC is a data center responsible for archiving data from past high energy astrophysical missions and constructing a user-friendly data analysis environment. Suzaku GOF carries out its tasks in collaboration with HEASARC.
The GOF is responsible for the US Guest Observer support, including:
Suzaku GOF WWW home page is located at
Other important issues which cannot be covered in this document described elsewhere, including: