1. Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI)
Masaru Matsuoka (Leader), Shigenori Komatsu, Kenichi Torii, Mutsumi Sugizaki,
Hiroshi Tomida, Shiro Ueno, Yuji Shirasaki, Masaaki Sakano, Weimin Yuan (NASDA),
Nobuyuki Kawai, Atsumasa Yoshida, Tatehiro Mihara, Hitoshi Negoro (RIKEN),
Hiroshi Tsunemi, Emi Miyata (Osaka University)
MAXI achieves unprecedented sensitivity
MAXI has been selected as one of the first payloads to be attached to Japan
Experiment Module (JEM-Kibo) of
the International Space Station (ISS).
MAXI will scan the whole sky once
every orbit, 24 hours a day, and will
determine the position, the brightness,
and the color of every X-ray object brighter than 1 mCrab (a conventional
flux unit in X-ray astronomy).
Targets of MAXI
MAXI will be the first all-sky X-ray
monitor to expand our scope to extra-
galactic objects. The X-ray time-
variability of about 1000 astronomical
objects will be monitored on the time
scales ranging from a day to months
during the MAXI operation, two years
at least. The international astronomical
community will be swiftly informed of
significant flux changes detected with
MAXI through the Internet, so that they
can make follow-up observations.
MAXI
Radiator for X-ray CCDs
Grapple Fixture for a robot arm
Electronics
Optical Star Sensor
77cm
80cm
Solid-state Slit
Cameras (SSC)
= X-ray CCD
cameras
185cm
Gas Slit Cameras (GSC)
= X-ray gas counter cameras
Total weight: 500 kg