Summary release note for ppsprod-14.17 ====================================== Pipeline Version: 14.17_20150121_1100 Pipeline name: ppsprod Release Date: 2015-01-21 SAS Manifest: xmmsas_20141120_1515 Summary ======= This pipeline represents an update to the previous release, ppsprod-12.10 (which was based on the cat9.0 pipeline developed for 3XMM catalogue production). This new pipeline is based on SAS version 14.0 with some additional packages, although most remarkable characteristics of the processing remain the same. Two issues in the 3XMM-DR4 identified soon after its release have been fixed in SAS14.0 and, consequently, in this new pipeline: the columns with the vignetting factor and the flux errors in combined EPIC source lists now contain correct values. The most significant changes included in the new pipeline are i) Source spectra and light curves are created for pn Timing mode data. The location of the source in RAWX coordinate is determined as the location of maximum of the RAWX histogram. The source extraction region extends 9 RAWX columns on side of the source location and the background region is fixed to RAWX in [2,6]. If the source and background extraction regions are found to overlap or there are less than 100 counts in the histogram, the source products are not created. In the case of very strong spectra this method may produce a background with significant contribution of the source at certain energies. ii) PN Small Window images are now included during the source detection procedure, and spectral and time-series products are also generated for sources detected within PN Small Window exposures. iii) Full sky view EPIC images are provided for Mosaic observations, and early stages (i.e., eboxdetect) of source detection procedure are performed. While there is no final 2D PSF fitting, nor source product generation, for the full images, the individual pointings from Mosaics are processed independently (providing both source lists and full sets of spectral and time-series products). iv) Energy-dependent CTI corrections, double-event energy correction and time- and pattern-dependent correction of the spectral energy resolution of EPIC-pn are introduced as per SAS 14.0. The X-ray loading and the rate-dependent PHA and CTI corrections for EPIC-pn Timing and Burst modes, respectively, are implemented following the new SAS 14.0 treatment as well. v) True-colour EPIC images are created for each observation. These images are corrected for vignetting, but not for background. Red, green and blue channels correspond to energy bands 0.3-0.7keV, 0.7-1.2keV and 1.2-7.0keV, respectively. vi) Binning of MOS spectra has been changed from 15eV to 5eV. In addition, events flags are now filtered according to XMMEA_EM instead of XMMEA_SM. vii) The full processing of RGS data is now computed in wavelength space so that products are now provided as a function of wavelength as well. Wavelengths are measured in the heliocentric system and corrected for the dependence on Solar Aspect Angle. viii) Background for OM light curves from Fast Mode window is now estimated in the associated Imaging Mode window. The version of SAS being used is a pipeline-specific manifest xmmsas_20141120_1515. This is based on the public SAS release 14.0, described at http://xmm.esac.esa.int/sas/current/documentation/releasenotes/xmmsas_14.0.0.shtml Documentation ============= Documentation for this pipeline can be found at: http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/pipeline/ and links therein.