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XTEPROCESS - XTE Post-Processing Observation Information

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Overview

This database table contains various post-observation and post-processing specifics pertaining to pointed observations made by the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE).

Provenance

The XTEPROCESS table is updated automatically on a quasi-regular basis, usually a couple times per week, based on information provided by the RXTE Guest Observer Facility (GOF) and the daily RXTE ObsCats.

Parameters

ObsID
The full 15-character unique RXTE observation identifier. The first five digits of the ObsID match the RXTE proposal number.

Short_ObsID
The first 14 characters of the unique RXTE observation identifier for the observation. This is used primarily to cross-correlate entries with XTEMASTER, which uses shortened ObsIDs which have had their event flags truncated in order to keep the number of entries in that table more manageable.

Event_Flag
The observation event flag, as defined according to the following:

         A   = slew before observation
         S   = raster scan observation
         Z   = slew after observation
         0-9 = parts of an observation that has been broken into shorter pieces
         B-R = (potentially) real-time changes in configurations
  

Exposure
The total amount of time an instrument was on-source during the observation, minus periods of Earth occultation and SAA passage. (Earth occultation is defined as a period during which the RXTE elevation angle is less than 0; SAA passage is defined as the period during which RXTE instruments are turned off for passage through the South Atlantic Anomaly). It also sometimes referred to as the total "good-time" of the observation. This concept is not well defined for slews, scans, and observation segments which have gaps; therefore, this value is null for ObsIDs with the following event flags: A, Z, R, S, G, C, D.

Duration
The literal duration of the observation segment, in seconds. This is calculated as the difference between the end and start times of the observations.

HEXTE_ModeA
The modes or configuration for HEXTE A. The HEXTE instrument has many possible modes, as discussed in Chapter 10 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "E_8us_0_X06" and "B_2s_256S_0_255_DH" the "8us" and "2s" characters refer to time bins of 8 microseconds and 2 seconds, respectively.

HEXTE_ModeB
The modes or configuration for HEXTE B. The HEXTE instrument has many possible modes, as discussed in Chapter 10 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "E_8us_0_X06" and "B_2s_256S_0_255_DH" the "8us" and "2s" characters refer to time bins of 8 microseconds and 2 seconds, respectively.

PCA_Config1
The configuration for PCA EA1 (also known as Event Analyzer). The Experiment Data System (EDS) has many possible EA modes for the PCA, as discussed in Appendix 1 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is often (but not always) encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "B_1ms_4X_0_17_Q" and "B_31us_2X_0_49_Q" the "1ms" and "31us" characters refer to time bins of 1 millisecond and 31 microseconds, respectively.

PCA_Config2
The configuration for PCA EA2 (also known as Event Analyzer). The Experiment Data System (EDS) has many possible EA modes for the PCA, as discussed in Appendix 1 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is often (but not always) encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "B_1ms_4X_0_17_Q" and "B_31us_2X_0_49_Q" the "1ms" and "31us" characters refer to time bins of 1 millisecond and 31 microseconds, respectively.

PCA_Config3
PCA Configuration 3 The configuration for PCA EA3 (also known as Event Analyzer). The Experiment Data System (EDS) has many possible EA modes for the PCA, as discussed in Appendix 1 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is often (but not always) encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "B_1ms_4X_0_17_Q" and "B_31us_2X_0_49_Q" the "1ms" and "31us" characters refer to time bins of 1 millisecond and 31 microseconds, respectively.

PCA_Config4
PCA Configuration 4 The configuration for PCA EA4 (also known as Event Analyzer). The Experiment Data System (EDS) has many possible EA modes for the PCA, as discussed in Appendix 1 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is often (but not always) encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "B_1ms_4X_0_17_Q" and "B_31us_2X_0_49_Q" the "1ms" and "31us" characters refer to time bins of 1 millisecond and 31 microseconds, respectively.

PCA_Config5
PCA Configuration 5 The configuration for PCA EA5 (also known as Event Analyzer). The Experiment Data System (EDS) has many possible EA modes for the PCA, as discussed in Appendix 1 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is often (but not always) encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "B_1ms_4X_0_17_Q" and "B_31us_2X_0_49_Q" the "1ms" and "31us" characters refer to time bins of 1 millisecond and 31 microseconds, respectively.

PCA_Config6
PCA Configuration 6 The configuration for PCA EA6 (also known as Event Analyzer). The Experiment Data System (EDS) has many possible EA modes for the PCA, as discussed in Appendix 1 of the RXTE Technical Appendix. The time binning used is often (but not always) encoded in the value of this parameter, e.g., in the values of "B_1ms_4X_0_17_Q" and "B_31us_2X_0_49_Q" the "1ms" and "31us" characters refer to time bins of 1 millisecond and 31 microseconds, respectively.

PCA_Configs
A concatenation of all PCA configurations for the observation. Each configuration is separated by a colon (":"). This field is useful when searching for all observations which utilize a particular PCA configuration.

Processed_Date
The date on which the observation data were processed.

Public_Date
The date on which the observation data were made available in the RXTE public data archive, meaning that the data are no longer proprietary. Some dates may be in the future. In these cases, such dates should be considered approximations only and not a promise that the data will be made available on that date. Not all ObsIDs have a public date listed even though they may indeed be public. Some ObsIDs, such as those for slews or Targets of Opportunity (TOOs) go public immediately after processing, and these will not have public dates listed.


Contact Person

Questions regarding the XTEPROCESS database table can be addressed to the HEASARC User Hotline.
Page Author: Browse Software Development Team
Last Modified: Friday, 02-Aug-2013 15:40:23 EDT