We have first light!

That's astronomers' expression for when a telescope or a satellite captures the light of a celestial object for the first time. In the case of Suzaku, this was achieved on August 12 and 13 using the 4 X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) cameras.

The target chosen for this honor is E0102-72.3, which is the remains of an exploded star. The Suzaku X-ray Telescopes (XRTs) cannot show the detailed structures of this object, but they certainly can focus the X-rays from it onto the Charge Coupled Device (CCD) chips in the XIS instruments. The CCD chips, in return, can measure the energies of the X-ray photons - that is, they can produce X-ray spectra. In particular, one of the 4 XIS units carries a new type of CCD that excels at low energies. Even this brief look at E0102-72.3 was enough to confirm the predicted performance of this CCD chip.

See the first light images & spectra in our gallery section!

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