Spectroscopy and Imaging of XRISM
Spectroscopy is the measuring of the strength of light at different wavelengths, in the same way our eyes can see different shades of colors. In X-ray astronomy, by making a precise measurement of wavelength (energy) of X-ray photons in the universe, we can measure the temperature of celestial objects, the type of matter they contain, and their speed. The micro-calorimeter, Resolve, has excellent spectroscopic capabilities. On the other hand, imaging takes a picture of an object. By examining the shape and brightness distribution, we can learn about the spatial extent of celestial objects. XRISM has an X-ray CCD camera, Xtend, which can image objects over a wide field of view.
