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MINBAR column descriptors

instr

The instr column for both the minbar and minbar-obs tables are encoded as three-character strings. The first two characters indicates the instrument:

The third character indicates the camera number, for the WFC and JEM-X. For the PCA, it encodes the number of PCUs on, as follows:

Note that for some observations, the number of PCUs on changes throughout the observation. Thus, the PCU code reflects the number of PCUs on for the longest sub-interval

See the instr column page for additional details

obsid

The obsid column for both the minbar and minbar-obs tables have a format dependent upon the instrument:

RXTE NNNNN-TT-VV-SSX where

NNNNN is the five-digit proposal number
TT is the two-digit target number
VV is the two-digit viewing numberwhich tracks the number of scheduled looks at the target
SS is the two-digit sequence number used for identifying different pointings that make up the same viewing
X the 15th character, when present, indicates A/Z, slew before/after observation; S/R, raster scan/grid observation; C,D,G,H,I,T,F,U, ObsIDs that may contain data gaps.
See the full description at the GOF site, and note also the caveats related to data with gaps

BeppoSAX/WFC nnnn[_bb] where

nnnn is the Observation Period. Note that for minbar the burst number bb within the observation is appended

INTEGRAL/JEM-X RRRRPPPPSSSF (ScW_ID) where

RRRR is the revolution number of the S/C as defined from perigee passage
PPPP is the pointing number within the revolution and is always reset to "0000" when the revolution number increments
SSS is the subdivision number for a Science Window with a given RRRR and PPPP value. The minimum value of SSS allowed is "001" and always resets with a change of value of PPPP
F is the type identifier of the Science Window with allowed values of (0) for "Pointing", (1) for "Slew", and (2) for "Engineering".
See the full description of INTEGRAL Science Window Data at the GOF site.

See the obsid column page for additional details

Lightcurve parameters

The basis for all analysis results are the light curves. These were generated for the complete bandpass which in practice (taking account of sensitivity) comes down to 2-28 keV for WFC, 2-30 keV for PCA and 3-25 keV for JEMX. Since all instruments are Xenon proportional counters, the effective area curves are similar.

All light curves were generated with a time resolution of 1 s. This 'undersamples' the PCA data quality, but allows for a fair comparison between instruments.

The WFC and JEM-X light curves are 'imaged' light curves, which means that only contain a signal from the source. All other sources in the field of view and the background are subtracted.

The WFC light curves is the most restricted one, since it was only determined from -15 to +100 s relative to the burst onset time, with a few exceptions.

All non-burst flux was subtracted with a value that was determined from the -15 to -5 sec time interval prior to the burst time provided by the various instrument teams.

The fluxes of the WFC data were given in c/s/cm2, those of PCA in c/s/PCU and of JEMX in c/s. The latter two were renormalized to match those of the WFC, by division through 1300 and 100, respectively.

WFC and JEMX bursts from the Rapid Burster were not processed, because, due to the unfavorable data quality for these weak bursts, it is impossible to filter out type II bursts.

6629 bursts were processed (2213 WFC, 2097 PCA and 2319 JEMX). These cover a 15.75 yr period. The last bursts were detected with the WFC on 15-apr-2002 for WFC, with JEM-X 21-apr-2010 and with PCA on 8-nov-2011.

pflux

Peak fluxes were determined by measuring in the -15 to 100 s time frame the maximum flux on time scales of 1, 3 and 5 sec. The first time scale had priority, but if the peak flux was ill-determined (i.e., having an error of larger than 20%), the other time scales got priority, as long as that peak flux deviates less than 2 sigma from the previous peak flux.

fluen

The fluence, in terms of c/cm2, was determined by integrating the fitted exponential function and adding the flux values of the data before that.

edt

An exponential decay function was fitted to the tail of the burst up to 100 s after burst onset, onward from the data point that preceedes the data point when the flux drops below half the peak value. The fits are generally satisfactory for WFC and JEMX data, but not for PCA data.

flag

The flag column for both the minbar and minbar-obs tables is intended to indicate various analysis conditions. Multiple conditions can be present for the same entry, and so this many-to-many relationship is encoded by setting the relevant bit of the flag value. For example, a burst with flag=10 can be decoded as

10 = 2³+2¹

i.e. flag condition "3" (data gaps) and "1" (offset pointing) apply to this event. I also list below the letter which corresponds to the label provided in the RXTE/MIT burst catalog.

See the flag column page for additional details

back to the MINBAR-bursts page