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Calibration of X-Ray Observatories

Author
L'Dell, Stephen L.
Published
April 09, 2011.
Physical Description
1 electronic document
Additional Creators
Weisskopf, Martin C.
Online Version

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Summary
Accurate calibration of x-ray observatories has proved an elusive goal. Inaccuracies and inconsistencies amongst on-ground measurements, differences between on-ground and in-space performance, in-space performance changes, and the absence of cosmic calibration standards whose physics we truly understand have precluded absolute calibration better than several percent and relative spectral calibration better than a few percent. The philosophy "the model is the calibration" relies upon a complete high-fidelity model of performance and an accurate verification and calibration of this model. As high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy begins to play a more important role in astrophysics, additional issues in accurately calibrating at high spectral resolution become more evident. Here we review the challenges of accurately calibrating the absolute and relative response of x-ray observatories. On-ground x-ray testing by itself is unlikely to achieve a high-accuracy calibration of in-space performance, especially when the performance changes with time. Nonetheless, it remains an essential tool in verifying functionality and in characterizing and verifying the performance model. In the absence of verified cosmic calibration sources, we also discuss the notion of an artificial, in-space x-ray calibration standard. 6th
Other Subject(s)
Collection
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Collection.
Note
Document ID: 20110014603.
M11-0302.
M11-0434.
6th Meeting of the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration Rome, Italy; 9-14 Apr. 2011; Rome; Italy.
Terms of Use and Reproduction
No Copyright.
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