High Energy Cross-Calibration Information
Targets
Astrophysical objects which have been used for instrument calibration
include the following:
ASCA Calibration Targets
ASCA has used the following targets for the following purposes:
Also see the the CXO Cross Calibration Page
Chandra uses the following targets, as listed in Issue #10 of the Chandra Newsletter
| Calibration Targets | |
Target | Detector | Objective |
Cas A | ACIS and HRC | Monitor the gain and spectral
resolution of the CCDs.
Monitor the QE and QE uniformity
of the HRC. Cross-calibration
between the focal plane detectors. |
G21.5-09 | ACIS and HRC | Monitor the QE and QE uniformity
of the detectors. Cross-calibration
between the focal plane detectors
and other X-ray telescopes. |
E0102-72 | ACIS | Measure the effects of increasing
CTI on gain and spectral resolution.
Monitor the degradation in low energy QE.
| HZ43 | LETG/HRC-I LETG/HRC-S | Monitor the HRC-I low energy QE and
the throughput of LETG/HRC-S at low
energies.
|
Coma | HRC-I | Monitor the QE, QE uniformity and degap map. |
ArLac | HRC | Measure small scale gain variations
across the detectors. |
Betelgeuse Vega | ACIS, HRC | Monitor the optical/UV transmission
of the detector filters |
Capella | LETG/HRC-S HETG/ACIS-S | Monitor the gratings dispersion relation
and LSF. |
PKS2155-304 | LETG/ACIS-S HETG/ACIS-S LETG/HRC-S | Cross-calibration. Monitor the build-up
of contaminant on ACIS and the HRC-S QE
uniformity.
| 3C273 | LETG/ACIS-S HETG/ACIS-S | Cross-calibration and monitoring the low
energy absorption on ACIS. |
NuSTAR Calibration Targets
- 3C273: Simultaneously observed on July 16 2012 by NuSTAR, XMM, Swift, Suzaku, and INTEGRAL, for cross-calibration purposes.
- N132D, HZ 43, Crab Nebula, AR Lac, the "Meaty" Source (aka RE 1629+781, a white dwarf discovered by the ROSAT WFC, see Pye, 1996,
MPE Report 263,627 & Cooke et al., 1992,
Nature 355, 61), Vela SNR,
Cyg X-2, Cyg X-3, A 2256, LMC X-1, LMC X-2, Cas A, MKN 421, Beta Car,
Beta Leo, Vega, GD695, BPM97895, and EG 187, Delta Dor, BETA Aur, EPS Lyr
Swift Calibration Targets for the XRT
These targets are taken from "The in-flight spectroscopic performance of the Swift XRT CCD camera", J. Osborne et al., 2005
Object |
Type |
Mode |
Purpose |
Exposure (ks) |
RXJ 0720.4-3125 |
Pulsar |
PC |
Low energy response |
19.6 |
RXJ 1856.5-3754 |
Neutron Star |
PC |
Low energy response |
5.4 |
PKS 0745-19 |
Cluster of galaxies |
PC |
Low energy shelf and effective area |
29.7 |
2E 0102-7217 |
SNR |
PC WT LrPD |
Effective area and gain |
24.3 25.4 6.0 |
Cas A |
SNR |
PC WT |
Effective area and gain |
5.8 45.7 |
3C 273 |
Quasar |
WT |
Effective area and cross-calibration |
10.0 |
Crab |
SNR |
WT LrPD |
Effective area and gain |
5.8 25.0 |
PSR 0540-69 |
Pulsar |
PC |
Effective area |
33.9 |
Suzaku Calibration Targets
Suzaku calibration targets are listed in Table B.1.1 of
the Suzaku Technical Description, which is reproduced here:
B.1.1 Calibration
Target |
RA |
Dec |
Stat |
Exp. |
#obs |
Remarks |
E0102-72 |
01 04 02.4 |
-72 01 60.0 |
Obs |
75 |
2 |
XIS window open |
E0102-72 |
01 04 02.4 |
-72 01 60.0 |
|
20 |
1 |
XIS |
N132D |
05 25 03.3 |
-69 38 27.2 |
Obs |
105 |
6 |
HXD HV ON |
Crab |
05 34 32.0 |
+22 00 52.2 |
Obs |
170 |
31 |
|
Eta Carina |
10 45 03.6 |
-59 41 04.3 |
|
20 |
1 |
XIS |
Lockman Hole |
10 52 00.0 |
+57 18 00.0 |
|
100 |
1 |
HXD |
North Ecliptic Pole |
18 11 12.0 |
+66 00 0.0 |
Obs |
70 |
1 |
|
Vega |
18 36 56.3 |
+38 47 01.3 |
Obs |
10 |
1 |
Optical light leak check |
PKS2155-304 |
21 58 52.1 |
-30 13 32.1 |
|
60 |
1 |
XIS; coordinated obs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
with XMM-Newton |
Cas A |
23 23 24.0 |
+58 48 54.0 |
|
10 |
1 |
XIS |
Documents
Attempts at intercomparison of instrumental performance between 2 (or among
3 or more) observatories, or between multiple instruments on a single observatory.
ASCA
- and ROSAT: "ASCA and
ROSAT observations of NGC 5548: discrepant spectral indices", Iwasawa,
K., Fabian, A. C., and Nandra, K., 1999, MNRAS, 307,611I (pdf preprint).
- and BeppoSax: "Quasi-simultaneous
observations of 3C 273 by BeppoSAX and ASCA", Orr, A., Yaqoob, T.,
Parmar, A. N., Piro, L., White, N. E., and Grandi, P., 1998, AA, 337, 685.
(pdf)
- and BeppoSax and RXTE: "High-Energy
Cross-comparison of ASCA/XTE/BeppoSAX Using Simultaneous Observations of 3C
273", 1999, Yaqoob, T., and the ASCA GOF. (postscript)
Chandra
- and ROSAT:
"Establishing HZ43 A, Sirius B, and RX J185635-3754 as soft X-ray standards: a cross-calibration between the Chandra LETG+HRC-S, the EUVE spectrometer, and the ROSAT PSPC", K. Beuermann,V. Burwitz, & T. Rauch, 2008, A&A, 481, 769
- and XMM-Newton:
Chandra/XMM Cross-Calibration
(paper presented by Herman Marshall at the 1st Chandra Calibration Workshop, November 2002)
- and XMM-Newton:
Are Simultaneous Observations by XMM-Newton and Chanrda a Luxury or a Necessity?
(presentation by A. Pollock at the 2003 Chandra Calibration Workshop
- and XMM-Newton:
Chandra and Newton: Common Low-Energy
Grating Observations (presentation by V. Kashyap at the 2004 Chandra Calibration Workshop
- and XMM-Newton:
Chandra/XMM cross-calibration: Temperatures and
soft X-ray fluxes of four galaxy clusters with ACIS-S/EPIC (presentation by
M. Bonamente at the 2004 Chandra Calibration Workshop)
- and XMM-Newton:
XMM-Newton (cross) calibration
(presentation by M. Kirsch at the 2004 Chandra Calibration Workshop
- and XMM-Newton:
Cross Calibration of the Chandra/ACIS and XMM/EPIC low energy response using
1E0102-723 (paper presented by Joe depasquale at the 2005 Chandra
Calibration Workshop)
- and INTEGRAL, RXTE, Suzaku, Swift, and XMM-Newton observatories: "Cross-calibration of the X-ray instruments onboard the Chandra, INTEGRAL, RXTE, Suzaku, Swift, and XMM-Newton observatories using G21.5�0.9", Tsujimoto et al., 2011, A&A, 525, A25.
XMM-Newton
- XMM Cross Calibration Page
- and various Observatories: XMM-Newton (cross)-calibration, Kirsch et al., 2004, SPIE 5488, 103
- and Chandra, ASCA, and ROSAT: "Comparison of XMM-Newton EPIC, Chandra ACIS-S3, ASCA SIS and GIS, and ROSAT PSPC Results for G21.5-0.9, 1E0102.2-7219, and MS1-54.4-0321", S. L. Snowden, Astroph, 0203311
- RGS & EPIC & other observatories:"XMM-Newton (cross)-calibration", 2003, M.F.G Kirsch et al.
- and Chandra:
Chandra/XMM Cross-Calibration (paper presented by Herman Marshall at the 1st Chandra Calibration Workshop, November 2002)
- and Chandra:
Are Simultaneous Observations by XMM-Newton and Chanrda a Luxury or a Necessity?
(presentation by A. Pollock at the 2003 Chandra Calibration Workshop
- and Chandra:
Chandra and Newton: Common Low-Energy
Grating Observations (presentation by V. Kashyap at the 2004 Chandra Calibration Workshop
- and Chandra:
Chandra/XMM cross-calibration: Temperatures and
soft X-ray fluxes of four galaxy clusters with ACIS-S/EPIC (presentation by
M. Bonamente at the 2004 Chandra Calibration Workshop)
- and Chandra:
XMM-Newton (cross) calibration
(presentation by M. Kirsch at the 2004 Chandra Calibration Workshop
- and Chandra:
Cross Calibration of the Chandra/ACIS and XMM/EPIC low energy response using
1E0102-723 (paper presented by Joe depasquale at the 2005 Chandra
Calibration Workshop)
- and Crab:
Crab: the standard x-ray candle with all (modern) x-ray satellites, Proceedings of SPIE -- Volume 5898
UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XIV, Oswald H. W. Siegmund, Editor, 589803 (Sep. 9, 2005)
INTEGRAL
Fermi
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