Concordance: in-flight calibration of X-ray telescopes without absolute references
File(s)Marshall_2021_AJ_162_254.pdf (963.96 KB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We describe a process for cross-calibrating the effective areas of X-ray telescopes that observe common targets. The targets are not assumed to be “standard candles” in the classic sense, in that we assume that the source fluxes have well-defined, but a priori unknown values. Using a technique developed by Chen et al. (2019) that involves a statistical method called shrinkage estimation, we determine effective area correction factors for each instrument that brings estimated fluxes into the best agreement, consistent with prior knowledge of their effective areas. We expand the technique to allow unique priors on systematic uncertainties in effective areas for each X-ray astronomy instrument and to allow correlations between effective areas in different energy bands. We demonstrate the method with several data sets from various X-ray telescopes.
Date Issued
2021-11-22
Date Acceptance
2021-08-30
Citation
The Astronomical Journal, 2021, 162 (6)
ISSN
0004-6256
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Journal / Book Title
The Astronomical Journal
Volume
162
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society
License URL
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Commission of the European Communities
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Identifier
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac230a
Grant Number
691164
873089
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
PHOTON IMAGING CAMERA
XMM-NEWTON
EMPIRICAL BAYES
CHANDRA
astro-ph.IM
astro-ph.IM
astro-ph.HE
0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Publication Status
Published