Abstract
The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E > 2 keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month.
Highlights
The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) satellite was launched from Tanegashima Space Center of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at 17:45 JST on February 17, 2016 (Fig. 1)
The Hard X-ray Imager (HXI) consists of two detector units, which are mounted on the HXI plate, at the end of a 6-m extensible optical bench (EOB) that is stowed to fit in the launch fairing and deployed once in orbit
The time of the EOB extension is clearly marked by a jump of the center positions of the HXI plate measured by CAMS
Summary
The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) satellite was launched from Tanegashima Space Center of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at 17:45 JST on February 17, 2016 (Fig. 1). Clusters of galaxies are the largest gravitationally bound objects in the Universe Many of these systems are recognized to be undergoing violent mergers characterized by shocks and cold fronts in x-ray and radio images. NASA selected U.S participation on ASTRO-H as a Mission of Opportunity in the Explorer Program category Under this program, the NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center collaborates with ISAS/JAXA on the implementation of the x-ray microcalorimeter and the Soft X-ray Telescopes (SXTs) (SXS Proposal NASA/GSFC, 2007).[9] Other institutional members of the collaboration are SRON (Netherlands Institute for Space Research), Geneva University, CEA/IRFU [French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)/Institute of Research into the Fundamental Laws of the Universe (IRFU)], CSA (Canadian Space Agency), Stanford University, and European Space Agency. The ESA contribution to the ASTRO-H mission includes the procurement of payload hardware elements that enhance the scientific capability of the mission
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