Readout modes and automated operation of the Swift X-ray Telescope

Joanne E. Hill; David N. Burrows; John A. Nousek; Anthony F. Abbey; Richard M. Ambrosi; Heinrich W. Brauninger; Wolfgang Burkert; Sergio Campana; Chaitanya Cheruvu; Giancarlo Cusumano; Michael J. Freyberg; Gisela D. Hartner; R. Klar; C. Mangels; Alberto Moretti; Koji Mori; Dave C. Morris; Alexander D. T. Short; Gianpiero Tagliaferri; D. J. Watson; P. Wood; Alan A. Wells

doi:10.1117/12.505728

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3 February 2004 Readout modes and automated operation of the Swift X-ray Telescope

Joanne E. Hill, David N. Burrows, John A. Nousek, Anthony F. Abbey, Richard M. Ambrosi, Heinrich W. Brauninger, Wolfgang Burkert, Sergio Campana, Chaitanya Cheruvu, Giancarlo Cusumano, Michael J. Freyberg, Gisela D. Hartner, R. Klar, C. Mangels, Alberto Moretti, Koji Mori, Dave C. Morris, Alexander D. T. Short, Gianpiero Tagliaferri, D. J. Watson, P. Wood, Alan A. Wells

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Proceedings Volume 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.505728
Event: Optical Science and Technology, SPIE's 48th Annual Meeting, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT) is designed to make astrometric, spectroscopic, and photometric observations of X-ray emission from Gamma-ray Bursts and their afterglows in the energy band 0.2-10 keV. In order to provide rapid-response, automated observations of these randomly occurring objects without ground intervention, the XRT must be able to observe objects covering some seven orders of magnitude in flux, extracting the maximum possible science from each one. This requires a variety of readout modes designed to optimise the information collected in response to shifting scientific priorities as the flux from the burst diminishes. The XRT will support four major readout modes: imaging, two timing modes and photon-counting, with several sub-modes. We describe in detail the readout modes of the XRT. We describe the flux ranges over which each mode will operate, the automated mode switching that will occur and the methods used for collection of bias information for this instrument. We also discuss the data products produced from each mode.

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Joanne E. Hill, David N. Burrows, John A. Nousek, Anthony F. Abbey, Richard M. Ambrosi, Heinrich W. Brauninger, Wolfgang Burkert, Sergio Campana, Chaitanya Cheruvu, Giancarlo Cusumano, Michael J. Freyberg, Gisela D. Hartner, R. Klar, C. Mangels, Alberto Moretti, Koji Mori, Dave C. Morris, Alexander D. T. Short, Gianpiero Tagliaferri, D. J. Watson, P. Wood, and Alan A. Wells "Readout modes and automated operation of the Swift X-ray Telescope", Proc. SPIE 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII, (3 February 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.505728

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