ROSAT Guest Observer Facility

ROSAT Status Report #30:

Aug 28, 1992



New IDL routines


An IDL data analysis routine which calculates the on-axis point response functions (PSFs) for the PSPC and HRI is now available through the GSFC guest observer facility. The routine calculates a radially averaged profile as well as a two-dimensional image of the PSF. The resulting HRI PSF is an average over energy, and is calculated using the formulae derived by SAO and given in Rosat Status Report # 22 (March 31, 1992). The PSPC PSF is calculated for a user specified input spectrum, and is weighted by the counts in each spectral bin according to the formulae in Hasinger et al. 1992; GSFC ROS/CAL/92-001).

The routine is named MAKE_PSF and runs under IDL. Input spectra for the PSPC can be entered in several ways: 1) as IDL variables on the command line, 2) read in from ASCII spectral files, which can be created using either the PLOT option in XSPEC or (for a slightly different ASCII format) another IDL routine, and 3) read in from PROS spectral table files. (An option to read the spectrum from XSPEC format .pha files will be available in future.) If desired, the resulting PSF image and profile can be written to FITS and ST SDAS binary table files, respectively. These files can be used as inputs to PROS/IRAF for further analysis.

To run the routine, enter IDL by typing

    IDL

and then (after the prompt IDL)

    IDL> make_psf,1

and follow the directions. For more details on various options, type

    IDL> doc_library,'make_psf'

or (equivalently) see the information header at the beginning of the file make_psf.pro (an ascii file).

MAKE_PSF is available from the rosserv anonymous ftp account (directory pub/IDL), and also via DECnet copy from:

	heasrc::xanadu:[idl_lib.rosat.experimental]

For further information, see the help files in the anonymous ftp account and/or in heasrc::xanadu:[idl_lib.rosat.doc], or contact G. Reichert as indicated below.

Calculation of viewing geometry

Another new IDL routine is available through the GSFC guest observer facility, this calculates the viewing geometry and angles (such as the Sun-Earth-Satellite and Earth-Satellite-Target). The routine is named RSGETVG and runs under IDL. To run the routine enter IDL by typing

     IDL

and then (after the prompt IDL>)

    IDL> rsgetvg,1,0,time,vginfo,ob=obinfo

and follow the directions. The output variables will be TIME and VGINFO. For more details on various options, type


    IDL> doc_library,'rsgetvg'

or (equivalently) see the information header at the beginning of the file rsgetvg.pro.

RSGETVG is available from the rosserv anonymous ftp account (directory pub/IDL), and also via DECnet copy from:


	heasrc::xanadu:[idl_lib.rosat.experimental]

For further information, see files in anonymous ftp and/or in:

	heasrc::xanadu:[idl_lib.rosat.doc]

or contact G. Reichert: telephone - (301) 286-5307
			SPAN      - heasrc::reichert
			Internet  - reichert@heasrc.gsfc.nasa.gov

The ROSAT data archive

The ROSAT data archive is on schedule for an opening in mid-September. The exact date will be announced shortly. MIPS and the HEASARC on-line service are both being updated to allow users to electronically query the catalog of available datasets and to request desired data electronically from NDADS. These updates are nearly complete and ready for testing. The data flow protocol between the USRSDC and NDADS is in place and should be tested later this week.

Users can query the MIPS DistribLists under the MISSION INFO menu to determine when data sets become available to the public. Searches can be carried out by location, by PI, by public release date, by observation date, and by target name. About 60 US PSPC/HRI observations will be available when the archive opens. Some observations which were processed with incorrect aspect solutions or have other processing problems that affect the scientific usefulness of the data may not be available immediately. All such datasets were reprocessed and will be made available to the public at the earliest opportunity.

The protocol specifying how archival data are to be transferred between the USRSDC and MPE should be in place by early September. We expect that data from German/UK programs carried out during the ROSAT pointed phase will begin entering the archive in November 92. For this initial archive release, data will be distributed in the original format: German/UK sequences, in MPE "ROD" format, and US sequences, in PROS FITS format. The GOFs will have software in place to allow analysis of German/UK data. Following the reprocessing (with "SASS revision 1"; expected to start in November) of all observations, archival data (US, German, and UK) will be available in a uniform format ("rationalized FITS").


More details can be obtained by contacting 
	Dr. Michael Corcoran
	Rosat Guest Observer Facility
	Goddard Space Flight Center
	Code 666
	Greenbelt   MD 20771
	(301) 286-5576
	HEASRC::CORCORAN
	corcoran@heasrc.gsfc.nasa.gov

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This file was last modified on Tuesday, 14-Sep-1999 11:47:03 EDT

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