Positional accuracy as a measure of Chandra's optical distortions

Eli Beckerman; Tom Aldcroft; Terrance J. Gaetz; Diab H. Jerius; Dan Nguyen; Michael Tibbetts

doi:10.1117/12.509381

3 February 2004 Positional accuracy as a measure of Chandra's optical distortions

Eli Beckerman, Tom Aldcroft, Terrance J. Gaetz, Diab H. Jerius, Dan Nguyen, Michael Tibbetts

Proceedings Volume 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.509381
Event: Optical Science and Technology, SPIE's 48th Annual Meeting, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We present a study of Chandra's optical distortions by examining the positional accuracy of observed sources on the HRC-I. We investigate the Chandra mirror and detector models' ability to reproduce the detector locations of observed sources by simulating ~160 calibration observations of AR Lac, HR 1099, and LMC X-1. To study the optical distortions of the mirrors more directly, we compare a 63 ksec observation of the Orion Nebular Cluster (ONC) with positions based on the well-determined optical astrometry of the cluster. We simulate observations of 100 reasonably bright sources from the Hillenbrand 1997 catalog of the ONC and compare the simulated positions with their observed positions. Offsets between the optical positions and the observed X-ray positions help determine a map of the optical distortions of the Chandra mirrors.

Citation Download Citation

Eli Beckerman, Tom Aldcroft, Terrance J. Gaetz, Diab H. Jerius, Dan Nguyen, and Michael Tibbetts "Positional accuracy as a measure of Chandra's optical distortions", Proc. SPIE 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII, (3 February 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.509381

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available