Convert FAINT Mode Data to Bright and BRIGHT2 Modes

If you like you can:

Description:

  1. Make BRIGHT mode versions of each FAINT mode science file using the same algorithm as the on-board software.

    When an X-ray photon hits an SIS CCD, it generally activates more than one pixel. The pattern of activated pixels can be used to help distinguish spurious events such as cosmic ray hits.

    The spacecraft has two modes in which it can send information to the ground. In FAINT mode separate data from each pixel is sent to the ground. This has the advantage of preserving the greatest amount of information, but the disadvantages that a high telemetry rate is required and that FAINT mode data cannot be interpreted by current analysis software. In BRIGHT mode, the nine pixels around each event are grouped together and on-board software interprets which events are valid. Some information is lost, but a lower telemetry rate is required and the data are directly interpretable by current analysis software.

  2. Resultant files with no events are dropped.

  3. Calculate dark frame error corrections. Dark frame error is due to fluctuations in the zero level calibration of the CCD chips. The error can be determined (and corrected) for FAINT mode data since data from unexcited pixels is available.

  4. Produce BRIGHT2 mode versions of the FAINT mode science files by correcting for the dark frame error. BRIGHT2 mode data is slightly better than BRIGHT mode data, but has the disadvantage that it cannot be combined with BRIGHT mode data.

  5. Put dark frame error information into the filter files.

Associated Routines:

Input Files:

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