Summary release note for ppsdev-15.23 ====================================== Pipeline Version: 15.23_20160428_1630 Pipeline name: ppsprod Release Date: 2016-04-28 SAS Manifest: xmmsas_20160428_1130 Summary ======= This new version of the pipeline is based on SAS15.0 public release and includes two important changes with respect to previous version: a new algortithm is used to define the spatial region to estimate the pn background in EPIC source products and OM source detection has been extended to stacked images. There are other changes but they correspond to updates in the methods with minor or no impact in the final products or to the introduction of new graphical products. List of most relevant changes: i) Background regions for pn spectra and light-curves of EPIC sources are now selected within the same pn chip where the source is found. The regions are defined geometrically as the largest circle within the CCD that does not include the columns with out-out-time events from the source and are closest to the source extraction circle within some margins that depend on the source brightness. Details of the method can be found in the description of the SAS task ebkgreg. There has been no change in the method to estimate the background regions for MOS source products. ii) Source detection in OM stacked images per mode and filter is now included in the pipeline processing. As a consequence there are new products for the sources detected in each mosaiced image and for the combined list with the information from the different filters. It is important to remark that the final OM source list with all the sources detected in individual exposures and in stacked images is still found with the same identifier OBSMLI. If this FITS file contains sources detected only in stacked images they can be identified by a non-NULL value in the new column SRCMOS. Other changes with less impact on PPS products are: -) Since the processing for the generation of the 3XMM catalogue, the EPIC flaring background is estimated within energy range 0.5-7.5keV and for the whole instrument field of view after masking out prominent sources. The same method is applied in this pipeline version but sources are searched for in images created in detector coordinates. -) This new pipeline is ready to produce PPS products with the Sky coordinates referred to the location of a moving object in the Solar System (SSO). The only two differences with regular pipeline processing are the use of a SSO Ephemeris File to modify the ODF attitude history file via attmove task and the masking of detector areas where prominent point-like sources are found. -) The columns SPECTRA and TSERIES in the final EPIC source lists (EPX*OBSMLI) are now set to True if the corresponding source products do exist. -) Plots with RGS light curves are generated in the same format as the plots with EPIC sources light curves. -) Graphical images for OM Fast Mode Windows including source region are now produced. -) From this version default and non-default OM windows are not treated as different modes in pipeline processing. The version of SAS being used is a pipeline-specific manifest xmmsas_20160428_1130. This is based on the public SAS release 15.0.0, described at http://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/sas-release-notes-1500 Documentation ============= Documentation for this pipeline can be found at: http://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/pipeline and links therein.