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StrayCats: A Catalog of NuSTAR Stray Light Observations
- Source :
- The Astrophysical Journal. 909(1)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- United States: NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI), 2021.
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Abstract
- We present StrayCats, a catalog of NuSTAR stray light observations of X-ray sources. Stray light observations arise for sources 1°–4°away from the telescope pointing direction. At this off-axis angle, X-rays pass through agap between the optics and aperture stop and so do not interact with the X-ray optics; instead, they directly illuminate the NuSTAR focal plane. We have systematically identified and examined over 1400 potential observations resulting in a catalog of 436 telescope fields and 78 stray light sources that have been identified. The sources identified include historically known persistently bright X-ray sources, X-ray binaries in outburst, pulsars, and type I X-ray bursters. In this paper, we present an overview of the catalog, how we identified the StrayCats sources, and the analysis techniques required to produce high-level science products. Finally, we present a few brief examples of the science quality of these unique data.
- Subjects :
- Astrophysics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15384357 and 0004637X
- Volume :
- 909
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- NASA Technical Reports
- Journal :
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Notes :
- NNH15CO48B
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsnas.20210017322
- Document Type :
- Report
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abe045