XSTAR output
The Spectral Data File: xout_spect1.fits
This ASCII FITS file contains the spectral information. The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. The second extension contains the spectra with lines binned into the continuum. The columns are the channel energy in \(\text{eV}\), incident, transmitted, and emitted radiation in inward and outward direction, respectively, all specific luminosities in units of \(10^{38}\,\text{erg}\,\text{s}^{-1}\,\text{erg}^{-1}\). The file format is shown below.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 TABLE XSTAR_SPECTRA 8 69(5) 9999 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 energy E13.5 eV
2 incident E13.5 erg/s/erg
3 transmitted E13.5 erg/s/erg
4 emit_inward E13.5 erg/s/erg
5 emit_outward E13.5 erg/s/erg
The Continuum File: xout_cont1.fits
This ASCII FITS file contains the continuum luminosities. The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. The second extension contains the spectra without lines binned into the continuum. The columns are the channel energy in \(\text{eV}\), incident, transmitted, and emitted specific luminosities in the inward and outward directions, respectively, all in units of \(10^{38}\,\text{erg}\,\text{s}^{-1}\,\text{erg}^{-1}\). The file format is the same as for xout_spect1.fits.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 TABLE XSTAR_SPECTRA 8 69(5) 9999 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 energy E13.5 eV
2 incident E13.5 erg/s/erg
3 transmitted E13.5 erg/s/erg
4 emit_inward E13.5 erg/s/erg
5 emit_outward E13.5 erg/s/erg
The Line Lumnosity File: xout_lines1.fits
This ASCII FITS file contains information about the strongest emission lines. The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. The second extension lists the 600 strongest emission lines. For each line, the line index (internal reference of XSTAR and the atomic database), the ion (string), the lower and upper level (string), the wavelength (\(\AA\)), the emitted luminosity in forward and backward directions (in units of \(10^{38}\,\text{erg}\,\text{s}^{-1}\)), and optical depth in the forward and backward directions. The file format is shown below.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 TABLE XSTAR_LINES 8 128(9) 600 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index I6
2 ion A9
3 lower_level A20
4 upper_level A20
5 wavelength E13.5 A
6 emit_inward E13.5 erg/s/10**38
7 emit_outward E13.5 erg/s/10**38
8 depth_inward E13.5
9 depth_outward E13.5
The Abundances Data File: xout_abund1.fits
This ASCII FITS file contains ion abundances as well as heating and cooling rates. Only ions with fractional abundance (relative to its parent element) greater than \(10^{-10}\) (relative to its parent element) are recorded. The elements are ordered by increasing nuclear charge, ions by increasing free charge.
The FITS file has four extensions: spatial ionic abundances, total ionic columns and heating and cooling rates:
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 TABLE ABUNDANCES 8 6621(473) ********* 0 1
2 TABLE COLUMNS 8 6621(473) ********* 0 1
3 TABLE HEATING 8 559(40) ********** 0 1
4 TABLE COOLING 8 573(41) ********** 0 1
The “ABUNDANCES” extension contains information about ionic abundance for each spatial zone. Each row contains the radius and size of the spatial zone, the local ionization parameter, electron fraction, density, pressure, temperature, fractional heating-cooling, followed by the abundance for each ion relative to its parent element:
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
1 TABLE ABUNDANCES 8 6621(473) ********* 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 radius E13.5 cm
2 delta_r E13.5 cm
3 ion_parameter E13.5 erg*cm/s
4 x_e E13.5
5 n_p E13.5
6 pressure E13.5 dynes/cm**2
7 temperature E13.5 10**4 K
8 frac_heat_error E13.5
9 h_i E13.5
10 he_i E13.5
11 he_ii E13.5
12 li_i E13.5
13 li_ii E13.5
14 li_iii E13.5
15 be_i E13.5
16 be_ii E13.5
17 be_iii E13.5
18 be_iv E13.5
[...]
The “COLUMNS” extension has a very similar format but contain column density for each ion in units of \(\text{cm}^{-2}\). In principle, these are integrated abundances from the previous extension, weighted by the elemental abundance and scaled by the total column density. Note that the ion fraction of the fully stripped ion is never tabulated, for any element. The abundance of these ions may be derived from the other ions by calculating one minus the sum of the tabulated ion fractions.
The last two extensions, “HEATING” and “COOLING”, list the Compton and total heating rates, and bremsstrahlung, Compton, and total cooling rates (in \(\text{erg}\,\text{cm}^{-3}\,\text{s}^{-1}\)).
The RRC File: xout_rrc1.fits
This ASCII FITS file contains information contains about the RRCs (radiative bound-free transitions). The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. The second extension contains for each RRC, the RRC index (internal reference of XSTAR and the atomic database), the ion (string), the bound level (string), the energy (\(\text{eV}\)), the emitted luminosity in forward and backward directions (in units of \(10^{38}\,\text{erg}\,\text{s}^{-1}\)), and optical depth in the forward and backward directions.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 TABLE XSTAR_SPECTRA 8 107(8) 6945 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index I6
2 ion A9
3 level A20
4 energy E13.5 eV
5 emit_outward E13.5 erg/s
6 emit_inward E13.5 erg/s
7 depth_outward E13.5
8 depth_inward E13.5
Detailed Ionic Information: xoNN_detail.fits
This file is only produced for lwrite=1 !
This ASCII FITS file contains all level populations for all spatial zones. This file is large and time-consuming to view and manipulate. For this file, the NN in the name is replaced by the pass number, a 2 digit integer. The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. Each of the following extension represents a spatial zone, so the number of extensions will depend on the details of the XSTAR calculation. The spatial extension list the index (internal to the XSTAR database), the ion index (internal to the XSTAR database), the excitation energy in \(eV\), the ion string, its atomic number, the configuration string, the ion population relative to the parent ion, the LTE population and the and the level index (relative to the ion). Other useful quantities like the radius, size, temperature, local ionization parameter etc. for each spatial zone are given in the header of each extension.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 BINTABLE XSTAR_RADIAL 8 50(9) 2590 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1J
2 ion_index 1I
3 e_excitation 1E eV
4 ion 8A
5 atomic_number 1I
6 ion_level 20A
7 population 1E
8 lte 1E
9 upper index 1I
3 BINTABLE XSTAR_RADIAL 8 50(9) 2590 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1J
2 ion_index 1I
3 e_excitation 1E eV
4 ion 8A
5 atomic_number 1I
6 ion_level 20A
7 population 1E
8 lte 1E
9 upper index 1I
[...]
Detailed Line Information: xoNN_detal2.fits
This file is only produced for lwrite=1 !
This ASCII FITS file contains line emissivities for all spatial zones. This file is large and time-consuming to view and manipulate. For this file, the NN in the name is replaced by the pass number, a 2 digit integer. The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. Each of the following extension represents a spatial zone, so the number of extensions will depend on the details of the XSTAR calculation. The spatial extension list the line index (internal to the XSTAR database), the wavelength (in \(\AA\)), the ion string, the lower and upper level configuration strings, the inward and outward emission, the line opacity, and inward and outward optical depth. Other useful quantities like the radius, size, temperature, local ionization parameter etc. for each spatial zone are given in the header of each extension.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 BINTABLE XSTAR_RADIAL 8 76(10) 18662 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1J
2 wavelength 1E A
3 ion 8A
4 lower_level 20A
5 upper_level 20A
6 emis_inward 1E erg/cm^3/s
7 emis_outward 1E erg/cm^3/s
8 opacity 1E /cm
9 tau_in 1E
10 tau_out 1E
3 BINTABLE XSTAR_RADIAL 8 76(10) 18662 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1J
2 wavelength 1E A
3 ion 8A
4 lower_level 20A
5 upper_level 20A
6 emis_inward 1E erg/cm^3/s
7 emis_outward 1E erg/cm^3/s
8 opacity 1E /cm
9 tau_in 1E
10 tau_out 1E
[...]
Detailed RRC Information: xoNN_detal3.fits
This file is only produced for lwrite=1 !
This ASCII FITS file contains all RRC emissivities and opacities for all spatial zones. This file is large and time-consuming to view and manipulate. For this file, the NN in the name is replaced by the pass number, a 2 digit integer. The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. Each of the following extension represents a spatial zone, so the number of extensions will depend on the details of the XSTAR calculation. The spatial extension list the RRC and level indices (internal to the XSTAR database), the energy (in \(eV\)), the ion string, the lower and upper level configuration strings (upper is continuum), the inward and outward emission, the integrated absorption, the RRC opacity, and inward and outward optical depth. Other useful quantities like the radius, size, temperature, local ionization parameter etc. for each spatial zone are given in the header of each extension.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 BINTABLE XSTAR_RADIAL 8 84(12) 2502 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 rrc index 1J
2 level index 1J
3 energy 1E ev
4 ion 8A
5 lower_level 20A
6 upper_level 20A
7 emis_inward 1E erg/cm^3/s
8 emis_outward 1E erg/cm^3/s
9 integrated absn 1E erg/cm^3/s
10 opacity 1E /cm
11 tau_in 1E
12 tau_out 1E
[...]
Detailed Line Information: xoNN_detal4.fits
This file is only produced for lwrite=1 !
This ASCII FITS file contains binned continuum specific luminosities and emissivities. This file is large and time-consuming to view and manipulate. For this file, the NN in the name is replaced by the pass number, a 2 digit integer. The first extension lists all the user input parameters for this XSTAR run. Each of the following extension represents a spatial zone, so the number of extensions will depend on the details of the XSTAR calculation. Note that specific luminosity has units \(10^{38}\,\text{erg}\,\text{s}^{-1}\,\text{erg}^{-1}\). The values in the columns in the spatial extensions are as follows:
The first two columns are the index and energy (in \(\text{eV}\)) of each spectral channel. The next for columns are
\(\texttt{zrems(1)}\): the specific luminosity used internally by xstar, calculated including all absorption and emission
\(\texttt{zrems(2)}\): specific luminosity which includes only emission from the model gas in the inward (reflected) direction (i.e., no incident radiation included)
\(\texttt{zrems(3)}\): specific luminosity which includes only emission from the model gas in in the outward (transmitted) direction (i.e., no incident radiation included)
\(\texttt{zrems(4)}\): specific luminosity which includes only emission from the model gas in the inward (reflected) direction but not including line emission
\(\texttt{zrems(5)}\): specific luminosity which includes only emission from the model gas in in the outward (transmitted) direction but not including line emission.
The remaining columns contain the opacity, the emission in inward and outward directions, and the optical depths in inward and outward directions.
No. Type EXTNAME BITPIX Dimensions(columns) PCOUNT GCOUNT
0 PRIMARY 16 0 0 1
1 BINTABLE PARAMETERS 8 66(5) 55 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1I
2 parameter 20A
3 value 1E
4 type 10A
5 comment 30A
2 BINTABLE XSTAR_RADIAL 8 48(12) 9999 0 1
Column Name Format Dims Units TLMIN TLMAX
1 index 1J
2 energy 1E ev
3 zrems(1) 1E erg/s
4 zrems(2) 1E erg/s
5 zrems(3) 1E erg/s
6 zrems(4) 1E erg/s
7 zrems(5) 1E erg/s
8 opacity 1E /cm
9 emis out 1E erg/cm**3/s
10 emis in 1E erg/cm**3/s
11 fwd dpth 1E
12 bck dpth 1E
XSTAR Run Log: xout_step.log
This file is always written but the parameter lprint controls the level of detail!
In any case, this ASCII text file contains the input parameters and a log of the temperature and other useful quantities (radius, \(\Delta R/R\) the fractional distance from the illuminated cloud face, column density, ionization parameter, electron fraction, proton number density, temperature, fractional heating-cooling rates, continuum optical depth at the Lyman continuum in the transmitted and reflected directions, and the number of iterations required to reach thermal equilibrium. This is the same as the information printed to the screen. In addition, at the end of a model calculation the luminosities of the 500 strongest lines and the 500 strongest RRCs are printed, sorted by luminosity, along with the energy budget: total energy absorbed, emitted in the continuum, emitted in lines, and the fractional difference between the first quantity and the sum of the latter two. Models with energy budget errors greater than a few percent should likely be rerun with smaller value of emult.