Absolute timing with the SWIFT X-ray telescope (XRT)

G. Cusumano; V. Mangano; T. Mineo; V. La Parola; A. La Barbera; S. Campana; G. Chincarini; G. Tagliaferri; A. Moretti; P. Romano; M. Capalbi; M. Perri; P. Giommi; D. Burrows; D. Morris; J. E. Hill; J. Kennea; J. A. Nousek; C. Pagani; L. Angelini; J. P. Osborne; A. F. Abbey; A. Beardmore; M. R. Goad; K. Page; A. Wells

doi:10.1117/12.616603

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18 August 2005 Absolute timing with the SWIFT X-ray telescope (XRT)

G. Cusumano, V. Mangano, T. Mineo, V. La Parola, A. La Barbera, S. Campana, G. Chincarini, G. Tagliaferri, A. Moretti, P. Romano, M. Capalbi, M. Perri, P. Giommi, D. Burrows, D. Morris, J. E. Hill, J. Kennea, J. A. Nousek, C. Pagani, L. Angelini, J. P. Osborne, A. F. Abbey, A. Beardmore, M. R. Goad, K. Page, A. Wells

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Proceedings Volume 5898, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XIV; 58981A (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616603
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The X-ray telescope (XRT) on board Swift, launched on 2004 Nov 20, is performing astrometric, spectroscopic and photometric observations of the X-ray emission from Gamma-ray burst afterglows in the energy band 0.2-10 keV. In this paper, we describe the results of the in-flight calibration relative to the XRT timing resolution and absolute timing capabilities. The timing calibration has been performed comparing the main pulse phases of the Crab profile obtained from several XRT observations in Low Rate Photodiode and Windowed Timing mode with those from contemporaneous RXTE observations. The XRT absolute timing is well reproduced with an accuracy of 200 μs for the Low Rate Photodiode and 300 μs for the Windowed Timing mode.

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G. Cusumano, V. Mangano, T. Mineo, V. La Parola, A. La Barbera, S. Campana, G. Chincarini, G. Tagliaferri, A. Moretti, P. Romano, M. Capalbi, M. Perri, P. Giommi, D. Burrows, D. Morris, J. E. Hill, J. Kennea, J. A. Nousek, C. Pagani, L. Angelini, J. P. Osborne, A. F. Abbey, A. Beardmore, M. R. Goad, K. Page, and A. Wells "Absolute timing with the SWIFT X-ray telescope (XRT)", Proc. SPIE 5898, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XIV, 58981A (18 August 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616603

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