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The IACHEC Matteo Guainazzi XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre ESAC-ESA

The IACHEC promotes cross-calibration among high-energy missions, coordinates working groups, and shares calibration results for improved accuracy and reliability. Participate in defining standards and procedures, attending meetings, and contributing to ongoing projects.

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The IACHEC Matteo Guainazzi XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre ESAC-ESA

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  1. The IACHECMatteo GuainazziXMM-Newton Science Operations CentreESAC-ESA

  2. Outline • What is the IACHEC? • How does it work? • What do we want to achieve? • Examples of cross-calibration results made possible by the IACHEC • How can you participate?

  3. What it is? • The IACHEC is the International Astronomical Consortium for High-Energy Calibration • It is a shared undertaking among high-energy calibrators to coordinate (and therefore strengthen) our work • It acts as a forum where astronomers involved in calibration of past, present (operational) and future missions work together to improve the cross-calibration among their instruments • Past missions: ASCA, BeppoSAX, ROSAT • Operational missions: Chandra, Fermi, Integral, MAXI, RXTE, Suzaku, Swift, XMM-Newton • Future missions: Astro-H, eRosita, GMES, NuStar, IXO • It is not directly funded by any Agencies or institutions. Individual projects/missions contribute through the work and mission budget of their calibration teams • Strongly endorsed by the Chandra and XMM-Newton User’s Group

  4. How does it work? • Through Working Groups, which: • Define calibration standards and procedures • Organize observational cross-calibration campaigns • Define astrophysical models for X-ray “standard candles” • Publish cross-calibration results on refereed journal papers, so as to provide the community with peer-reviewed references on the calibration and cross-calibration quality • Maintain and update cross-calibration results on public Wiki pages • Through yearly meetings where: • The calibration status of each operational mission is presented • Working Groups meet (primarily) to finalize the publication of cross-calibration papers, review the status of ongoing, or start new projects • The development status of future missions is presented (with particular focus on their calibration plan) • Theoretical astrophysicists are invited to validate/challenge the astrophysical assumptions underlying our calibration work

  5. Working Groups • CCD issues(Chair: Catherine Grant). It aims to provide a forum for cross-mission discussion and comparison of CCD-specific modeling and calibration issues, lessons learned, and best practices. • Clusters (Chair: Jukka Nevalainen). It aims at a systematic comparison of cluster temperatures measured by Chandra and XMM-Newton, with a possible extension of this comparison to Suzaku in the nearby future. • Effective area (Chairs: Manabu Ishida and Hermann Marshall). It aims at the analysis of the Chandra, Suzaku and XMM-Newton cross-calibration campaign data on PKS2155-304 collected so far. • High Resolution (Chair: Andy Pollock). It aims at a complete census of emission lines in the RGS and LETG spectrum of Capella. • Isolated Neutron Stars (Chair: Frank Haberl). It aims at the cross-calibration analysis of the RXJ1854.5-3754 spectra • Non-Thermal SNR (Chairs: Lorenzo Natalucci andMasahiro Tsujimoto). It aims at the cross-calibration analysis of G21.5-0.9 (mainly below 10 keV) and of the Crab (mainly above 10 keV) spectra. • Thermal SNR (Chair: Paul Plucinsky): analysis of 1E0102.2-7219 • White Dwarfs (Chair: Vadim Burwitz). It aims at comparing atmospheric models in conjunction with analysis of high-resolution data.

  6. What would we like to achieve? Traditionally, calibration had been conceived as an “internal project matter”. Very often, cross-calibration among different instrument was evaluated a posteriori by the community. In 2006 Marcus Kirsch and Steve Sembay promoted the IACHEC to: • Improve the calibration of our instruments • In modern X-ray astronomy “calibration” is “cross-calibration” • Provide the astronomical community at large with reliable sources of information on calibration accuracy and systematics in all domains: imaging, spectral, timing • Ensure that state-of-the-art astrophysical understanding of celestial sources is assumed when analyzing on-flight calibration data • Ensure that statistics is properly used when analysing calibration data • Avoid reinventing the wheel: share common problems, find common solutions • Make sure that we use the power of all existing data when calibrating • Share experience, know-how and “lessons-learned” from past and operational missions with teams working on future missions • Create a cooperation rather then a competition atmosphere across calibration teams

  7. Gallery of IACHEC results: 1E0102-72 OVII OVIII NeIX NeX (Plucinsky et al., 2009)

  8. Gallery of IACHEC results: clusters (Nevalainen et al., 2010)

  9. Gallery of IACHEC results: G21.5-0.9 (Tsujimoto et al. 2011)

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