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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:- Crab Nebula: XRT+GIS energy response
- 3C273, G11.2-0.3: Residual Dark Distribution calibration
- Cas A: measurement of SIS CTI and gain
- 3C 273: boresight calibrator
- 3C 273: spectral calibration
Chandra Calibration Targets
Also see the the CXO Cross Calibration PageChandra 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.
ROSAT Calibration Targets
- 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
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Calibration Targets
- The RXTE Proportional Counter Array used the following calibration targets, as listed in "Calibration of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array" (Jahoda et al., 2006, ApJSS, 163, 401): Cas A; the Crab Nebula; the Crab pulsar; J1744-28; GRB 960924; PSR 1821-24
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., 2005Object | 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 CalibrationTarget | 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
- Cross-Calibration Report (discusses cross-calibration between the various INTEGRAL instruments)
Fermi
- and INTEGRAL: Using GRB 080723B to cross-calibrate Fermi/GBM and INTEGRAL (von Kienlin et al., 2009)
- and INTEGRAL:Spectral Cross-Calibration of Fermi-GBM and INTEGRAL-ISGRI using Gamma-Ray Bursts (Tierney et al., 2011)
-
and Swift: The Cross-Calibration of Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM via Correlative Spectral Analysis of GRBs (Stamatikos 2009)
Other Links
- The International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC)
- The XMM-Newton Cross-Calibration page.
- The Chandra Cross-Calibration page
Questions/Comments/Problems with the CALDB to: caldbhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
Page Author: Michael F. Corcoran 1-301-286-5576
Last Update: Monday, 21-Apr-2025 17:48:35 EDT
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