In Orbit Timing Calibration of the Hard X-Ray Detector on Board Suzaku

TL;DR

This paper details the in-orbit timing calibration of Suzaku's Hard X-Ray Detector, confirming its high timing accuracy and stability through observations of the Crab pulsar and other satellites.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive description of the HXD timing system and demonstrates its in-orbit calibration and performance validation.

Findings

Timing accuracy of 1.9×10⁻⁹ s s⁻¹ per day

Absolute timing accuracy within 360 μs

Successful calibration using Crab pulsar observations

Abstract

The hard X-ray detector (HXD) on board the X-ray satellite Suzaku is designed to have a good timing capability with a 61 $\mu$s time resolution. In addition to detailed descriptions of the HXD timing system, results of in-orbit timing calibration and performance of the HXD are summarized. The relative accuracy of time measurements of the HXD event was confirmed to have an accuracy of $1.9\times 10^{-9}$ s s$^{-1}$ per day, and the absolute timing was confirmed to be accurate to 360 $\mu$s or better. The results were achieved mainly through observations of the Crab pulsar, including simultaneous ones with RXTE, INTEGRAL, and Swift.