XMM-Newton-NEWS

Contents:

• Version 10.0 of the Science Analysis System (SAS) released

Version 10.0 of the Science Analysis System (SAS) released

• full compliance of the SAS C++ code with gcc4, making possible the support of newer operating system / flavours;


• full 2-D parameterisation of the EPIC PSF as function of instrument, energy and off-axis angle, covering the whole field-of-view, is being introduced. This is kept in this version as a non-default alternative, since it is not fully scientifically validated, and some areas of the parameter space have still to be explored and/or refined.
  The alternative parameterisation models the PSF spokes and the large-scale azimuthal variations, and includes an additional gaussian core, which accounts for (at most) 2% of the enclosed energy flux in the MOS cameras.


• new task specgroup, for defining the useful range of spectral channels and grouping channels according to statistical criteria of EPIC and RGS spectra;


• upgrade of the configurable SAS pipeline-like metatask psechain, for general processing of all the XMM-Newton data corresponding to one observation, but in particular, for the extraction of scientific reduced data related to one or several point sources, including signal to noise optimization;


• upgrade of the task emosaicproc included in the former SAS 9 version for analysis of EPIC mosaic data and coherent source detection of overlapping EPIC exposures;


• adaptation of the metatask for analysis of EPIC slew data eslewchain, for its easy inclusion into the official XMM-Newton Pipeline system PPS;


• RGS data analysis performed by default on a wavelength grid. Modelling of the RGS background is now also possible (and default) on the wavelength grid, after adaptation of the corresponding background templates;


• extension of the contamination model for RGS according to the findings of the RGS calibration team, showing a non-linear but asymptotic contamination evolution. It requires the use of a new version of the corresponding calibration files RGS1_EFFAREACORR_0006.CCF and RGS2_EFFAREACORR_0006.CCF (these files will be publicly available at earliest a week after the SAS 10 release, and are not compatible with SAS 9.0);


• upgrade of the the RGS effective area determination to include the possibility of a spectral correction for alignment of RGS and EPIC effective areas, should this be necessary, which can be switched on by the non-default parameter "withrectification". The spectral correction factors are contained in a new extension of the calibration files for the moment set to unity;


• new task omvariability, for OM variability statistics;


• improvement of the photometry for OM fast mode;