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MPCRAW: Help
OverviewThe Einstein Observatory (also known as HEAO-2 or HEAO-B) was operational from 1978 November 13 until 1981 April 25 when the Einstein attitude control system failed. The Monitor Proportional Counter (MPC) was a non-focal plane instrument that monitored the 1 to 20 keV X-ray flux of the source(s) being observed simultaneously by the operational focal plane instrument. The MPC was a collimated proportional counter filled with argon and carbon dioxide. It had a circular field of view, 1.5 degrees in diameter (FWHM), which was co-aligned with the telescope. A 1.5 mil Be window sealed the gas in the detector and shielded the detector from ultraviolet radiation. The active area of the MPC was 667 square cm. The MPC obtained useful data from 1978 November 19 until 1981 April 17, with the exception of a 3-month period from 1980 Aug 27 to 1980 Dec 08 when operation was intermittent, due to Einstein Observatory attitude control problems. The characteristics of the MPC have been described in detail by Gaillardetz et al.(1979) and by Grindlay et al. (1980).ReferencesGaillardetz, R., et al. 1979, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 25, 437. Grindlay, J. E., et al. 1980, Ap. J. (Letters), 240, L121. Halpern, J.P. 1982, Harvard University Ph.D.thesis. McIlwain, C.E. 1961 J.Geophys. Res. 66, 3681.Data ProductsThe MPC_RAW data files contain the Einstein Monitor Proportional Counter (MPC) data for the Einstein (aka HEAO-B or HEAO-2) mission at a time-resolution of 2.56 seconds in FITS format. The file-naming convention uses the start-time of the observation as its identifier, so that the file m800131_0710_p.cmb corresponds to an observation which started at 07:10UT on 1980 Jan 31 or 800131 in YYMMDD format. The MPC obtained useful data from 1978 November 19 until 1981 April 17, with the exception of a 3-month period from 1980 Aug 27 to 1980 Dec 08 when operation was intermittent, due to Einstein Observatory attitude control problems.An MPC_RAW FITS file has no primary array, but does have 1 binary table extension that contains the MPC's 8-channel spectra and associated instrumental characteristics for every 2.56 seconds time interval in the selected observing segment.The latter corresponds typically to some fraction of the Einstein spacecraft orbit; thus, an Einstein observation of an individual source will typically have many MPC_RAW FITS files associated with it. Parameters
Target
Filename
Sequence_Number
Hut_Number
RA
Dec
LII
BII
Start_Time
Stop_Time
On_Time
Source_Count Contact PersonQuestions regarding the MPCRAW database table can be addressed to the HEASARC User Hotline. |
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