XMM-Newton Users Handbook

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3.3.12.2 EPIC flux to count rate conversion

The following set of figures (Figs. 48-59) provides EPIC flux to count rate conversion factors for a variety of standard spectral models, for each camera type (pn and MOS), with the thin and medium optical blocking filters. Families of curves for various values of the foreground absorbing column density, $N_H$, are plotted. Both the (unabsorbed) fluxes (i.e., after taking into account the attenuation by the foreground gas) and the count rates are calculated for the 0.1-12 keV band.

Note that these plots are based on pre-launch simulations and some minor changes may apply. The conversion factors for the MOS cameras refer to one MOS camera only.

The order of the plots is:

  1. Power law models

  2. Thermal plasma (Raymond-Smith) models with solar metallicities

  3. Black body models

For each model type, two pn camera plots are shown first (thin and medium filter, in that order), then two MOS plots.

Note: Plots in the previous and in this section are presented only as a quick-look reference. Users are strongly advised to estimate the expected count rates and spectra for their sources through proper simulations via, e.g. the command fakeit in XSPEC. The most updated EPIC response matrices should be used for this purpose.

Figure 48: EPIC pn flux to count rate conversion factors for various power law spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (thin filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_pl_pn_thin.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 49: EPIC pn flux to count rate conversion factors for various power law spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (medium filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_pl_pn_med.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 50: EPIC flux to count rate conversion factors for one MOS camera for various power law spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (thin filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_pl_mos_thin.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 51: EPIC flux to count rate conversion factors for one MOS camera for various power law spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (medium filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_pl_mos_med.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 52: EPIC pn flux to count rate conversion factors for various Raymond-Smith spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (thin filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_rs_pn_thin.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 53: EPIC pn flux to count rate conversion factors for various Raymond-Smith spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (medium filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_rs_pn_med.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 54: EPIC flux to count rate conversion factors for one MOS camera for various Raymond-Smith spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (thin filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_rs_mos_thin.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 55: EPIC flux to count rate conversion factors for one MOS camera for various Raymond-Smith spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (medium filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_rs_mos_med.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 56: EPIC pn flux to count rate conversion factors for various black body spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (thin filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_bb_pn_thin.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 57: EPIC pn flux to count rate conversion factors for various black body spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (medium filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_bb_pn_med.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 58: EPIC flux to count rate conversion factors for one MOS camera for various black body spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (thin filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_bb_mos_thin.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

Figure 59: EPIC flux to count rate conversion factors for one MOS camera for various black body spectra and different values for the absorbing column density, $N_H$ (medium filter).
\begin{figure}\begin{center} \leavevmode \epsfig{height=0.76\hsize, file=figs/epicfluxtocr_bb_mos_med.eps} \end{center} \end{figure}

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Next: 3.3.12.3 Count rate conversion from other X-ray satellite missions Up: 3.3.12 EPIC-specific proposal submission information Previous: 3.3.12.1 EPIC spectral quality
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