Monte Carlo processes for including Chandra instrument response uncertainties in parameter estimation studies

Jeremy J. Drake; Peter Ratzlaff; Vinay Kashyap; Richard Edgar; Rima Izem; Diab Jerius; Aneta Siemiginowska; Alexey Vikhlinin

doi:10.1117/12.672226

30 June 2006 Monte Carlo processes for including Chandra instrument response uncertainties in parameter estimation studies

Jeremy J. Drake, Peter Ratzlaff, Vinay Kashyap, Richard Edgar, Rima Izem, Diab Jerius, Aneta Siemiginowska, Alexey Vikhlinin

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6270, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems; 62701I (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.672226
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2006, Orlando, Florida , United States

Abstract

Instrument response uncertainties are almost universally ignored in current astrophysical X-ray data analyses. Yet modern X-ray observatories, such as Chandra and XMM-Newton, frequently acquire data for which photon counting statistics are not the dominant source of error. Including allowance for performance uncertainties is, however, technically challenging in terms of both understanding and specifying the uncertainties themselves, and in employing them in data analysis. Here we describe Monte Carlo methods developed to include instrument performance uncertainties in typical model parameter estimation studies. These methods are used to estimate the limiting accuracy of Chandra for understanding typical X-ray source model parameters. The present study indicates that, for ACIS-S3 observations, the limiting accuracy is reached for ~ 10⁴ counts.

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Jeremy J. Drake, Peter Ratzlaff, Vinay Kashyap, Richard Edgar, Rima Izem, Diab Jerius, Aneta Siemiginowska, and Alexey Vikhlinin "Monte Carlo processes for including Chandra instrument response uncertainties in parameter estimation studies", Proc. SPIE 6270, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems, 62701I (30 June 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.672226

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