This is the CGRO/BATSE Occultations database table. It contains entries
for earth occultation data relating to several dozen pre-selected hard X-ray
sources for each of which multiple X-ray lightcurves corresponding to different
observing epochs have been constructed. Concatentation of all of the entries
for a given source enables the user to construct an X-ray lightcurve for the
duration of the CGRO mission that the public archive currently holds. Notice
that it is possible in theory, using the original BATSE data, to construct
similar lightcurves for any arbitrary point in the sky, but that the present
database cannot be used in this way: those wishing to construct
BATSE occultation lightcurves at positions not included here should contact
the Marshall Space Flight Center BATSE group (
http://www.batse.msfc.nasa.gov/).
This database table was created by a cooperative effort of the
HEASARC and the Compton Observatory Science Support Center (COSSC). It was last
updated in November 2000.
These are available only via the Browse Web interface.
For each entry a `New History Light Curve' (nhis) FITS file and an `Occultation
Lightcurve' GIF file are available. The nhis file contains data for one or
more BATSE detectors for the available energy channels in the form of a source
count rate (counts/sec) from which the background has been subtracted, and
can be used to construct light curves. In addition, there is a FTOOLS
program called bod2pha that can convert a BATSE nhis data file into a spectral
(PHA) file. More information about bod2pha and other FTOOLS is available at:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/software/ftools/ftools_menu.html
Name
The name of the hard X-ray source.
ObsID
A unique observation ID that identifies each entry that is created
from a concatenation of the string 'B.OCCULT_', the name of the target,
the string '.', and the Truncated Julian Date (TJD) [which is equivalent to
the Modified Julian Day Number - 40,000 days] corresponding to the
start time of the observing segment. Thus, an observation of the source
4U1543-47 on 1997 December 18 (TJD=10800) has been given an obsid of
'B.OCCULT_4U1543-47.10800'. Notice that if the '+' character occurs in
the name of the target, it is replaced by 'PLUS' in the obsid; therefore, the
observation of GX1+4 that started on TJD 10800 has been given an obsid of
'B.OCCULT_GX1PLUS4.10800'.
Start_Time
The start time or date of the specified observing epoch.
End_Time
The end time or date of the specified observing epoch.
RA
The right ascension of the hard X-ray source.
Dec
The declination of the hard X-ray source.
LII
The galactic longitude of the hard X-ray source.
BII
The galactic latitude of the hard X-ray source.
Questions regarding the BATSEOCC database table can be addressed to the
HEASARC User Hotline.
Page Author: Browse Software Development Team
Last Modified: Monday, 08-Nov-2004 11:23:45 EST