XSPEC 11.2

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XSPEC 11.2

• New release with Heasoft 5.2.
• Ported to Mac OS X (Darwin)
• Estimates confidence regions on fluxes and
  equivalent widths
• Response matrices read up to 5 times faster
• Pileup model exact analog to that in ISIS
• New NEI models using APEC

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XSPEC 12

• Rewrite of XSPEC internals in C
• Now core-complete
• More accurate and in some cases faster
• Allows multiple models with their own responses -
  useful for coded aperture experiments such as
  Integral
• Aim to release within next year

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Whither XSPEC ?

• What should we concentrate on after v12 ?
• What should be the relationship between XSPEC,
  Sherpa, and ISIS ?
• What models are missing or need work ?
• Should we put significant work into developing a
  good GUI ?

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Software Compatibility

• There are now three software systems in
  widespread use in high energy astrophysics.
• CIAO for Chandra, SAS for XMM-Newton, and HEAsoft
  for ROSAT, ASCA, RXTE, BeppoSAX, and earlier
  missions.
• In the next few years we will have Integral,
  Swift, Astro-E2, and GLAST.
• Interoperability will become more important

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Levels of Compatibility

• Non-interference
• File Compatibility
• Program Compatibility
• Download Compatibility

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Non-interference

• Multiple systems can be run together on the same
  computer and in the same terminal window.
• We have achieved this (I think) although there
  are a few commands with the same name in more
  than one system.

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File Compatibility

• Files can be written by one system and used in
  another. HEASARC file formats were intended to
  ensure this and have had some success.
• Chandra and XMM projects have been defining
  extensions - these are not necessarily compatible
  (eg for bad pixels).

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File Compatibility - II

• There are other problems - for instance region
  files produced by ds9 or fv are interpreted
  differently by HEAsoft, CIAO, SAS, and Funtools.

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Circle1 Circle2 -Circle3
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2
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This region file produces very different results
in HEAsoft, CIAO, and SAS.
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File Compatibility - II

• There are other problems - for instance region
  files produced by ds9 or fv are interpreted
  differently by HEAsoft, CIAO, SAS, and Funtools.
• Xselect/extractor in the new release produces
  output products consistent with CIAO and SAS eg
  spectra can be fed to the response and arf
  generation tools.

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Program Compatibility

• Programs work together seamlessly.
• Eg help can give information on all systems.
• GUIs can run tools from all systems.

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Download Compatibility

• One-click shopping.
• Users can go to one location to download
  software.
• It installs with a single command.

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Questions for HUG

• Is this an important issue for you ?
• What level of compatibility should we push for ?
  It gets harder as we work down the list.