XMM-Newton EPIC Response and Background File Page
The SOC page
Downloads
The most recent Canned Response Matricescan be downloaded from the SOC or the GOF.
Please refer to "Update 2010-10-26").
and please carefully read the notes below before retrieving and using the files.
Canned response matrices
General Information
The PN canned response matrices are available for spectra selected from single-pixel events only, doubles only and single+doubles combined, with event threshold 20 adu (100 eV) for most observing modes. This allows one to make use of the additional signal-to-noise improvement with double event patterns. However the user should be warned to compare spectral fitting results with and without the double events, as the effects of pile-up can make the results a little variable.These files have filenames of the form;
| epn_ff20_sY9_<ver>.rmf | for singles, where ver is the version number, eg; v6.9 |
| epn_ff20_dY9_<ver>.rmf | for doubles, where ver is the version number, eg; v6.9 |
| epn_ff20_sdY9_<ver>.rmf | singles plus doubles, where ver is the version number, eg; v6.9 |
For the PN the responses are provided at intervals of CCD 20 rows, due to changing energy resolution from charge transfer effects. That is, a nomenclature Y0 can be used from rows 1-20, and Y9 from rows 181-200 (i.e. on-axis).
- Y0 CCD lines 1-20 (i.e farthest from centre)
- Y1 CCD lines 21-40
- ...
- Y9 CCD lines 181-200 (i.e. nearest centre)
- ff - fullframe mode
- ef - extended full frame mode
- sw - small window mode
- lw - large window mode
- ti - timing mode
- bu - burst mode
Although since SAS 6.5 no ready-made MOS response files are provided (see "Update 2005-12-15"), for the purposes of the feasibility study of XMM-Newton proposals, a limited set of MOS response files have been made available. These files are available for the full frame mode and the current epoch, for:
- MOS1 and MOS2
- pattern 0 and pattern 0-12 matrices
- on-patch, wings of patch and off-patch
positions. Details on the three RMF regions are given in the
"EPIC
Status of Calibration and Data Analysis Document".
| The files follow the nomenclature: | |||||||||
| <camera>_<patch>_<patterns>_<ver>.rmf |
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| For example; | |||||||||
|
m1_onpatch_p0_2008-07-28.rmf m1_offpatch_pall_2008-07-28.rmf |
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Note: MOS response files before SAS 6.5 had a different nomenclature as the one listed above (see "Update 2005-12-15").
Pipeline Produced Matrices
The source spectra produced by the pipeline refer to a set of canned matrices (please refer to "Update 2006-02-16"). These matrices are the latest available at the time of the pipeline processing, and may be used for performing spectral analysis with the following caveat:- MOS spectra of sources which are within 1 arcminute of the boresight of the MOS cameras (normally the target of the observation) experience a redistribution which is highly dependent upon the exact position of the source and the size of the extraction region. An accurate analysis of such sources should use a redistribution matrix produced by the task rmfgen. Using a canned matrix in this case may introduce large errors below 1 keV (please refer to "Update 2005-12-15").
Updates
Information on the performed updates of the EPIC canned response files is available here.How to use canned responses and/or arfgen and rmfgen
Details on how to perform a standard spectral analysis of EPIC data is available from the SAS User's Guide (Section 4.10.2) and from the EPIC SAS Threads. Details about the status of the EPIC Calibration can be found in the EPIC Status of Calibration and Data Analysis Document.Questions regarding the CCF should be addressed to the XMM-Newton Helpdesk. Download the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Reader.
If you have any questions concerning XMM-Newton send e-mail to xmmhelp@lists.nasa.gov