Chandra has an imaging spectrometer, which can distinguish up to 50 different energies within the X-ray energy range that the observatory operates. Two gold spectrometer gratings can be individually swung into the path of the X-rays. The gratings disperse the X-rays in the same way that a prism disperses visible light into its individual energy (color) ranges. The high-energy grating is used with the imaging spectrometer and the low energy grating works in conjunction with the high-resolution camera (HRC.) The gratings result in high precision analysis of strong sources to determine their temperature and chemical composition.

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Slide 13 of 28