ESA Science & Technology - Hard X-ray imaging system on Hitomi

This illustration shows the hard X-ray imaging system on the Hitomi satellite.

It consists of two hard X-ray telescopes (on the top platform) and two Si/CdTe double-side detectors, located at the end of a 6-m extendable boom (bottom right) that will be deployed once in orbit. The focal length of this imaging system is 12 m.

Hitomi (known as ASTRO-H prior to launch) is a high-energy astrophysics space observatory, developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in collaboration with institutions in Japan, the US, Canada, and Europe.