Spectral response generation

For spectral analysis, a response redistribution function (RMF) should be generated according to the spectral binning specified by the user. The j_rebin_rmf script allows to do this very easily. There are several ways to run this script. The user can specify the bins individually, generate a bin list in a text file (see FTOOLS rbnrmf explanations). For example,

j_rebin_rmf chanMin="46 77 130 175" chanMax="76 129 174 233"

or

j_rebin_rmf binlist=mybins.txt

Otherwise, it is possible to use pre-defined standard binnings matching those set with nChanBins . The following example will rebin the RMF according to the channels defined by nChanBins=-4:

j_rebin_rmf binlist=STD_016 outfile="jmx2_rmf_mybins.fits" jemx_num=2

As a result, a file which contains the rebinned RMF will be produced. The output file name is set as jmx2\_rmf\_mybins.fits through the outfile parameter (default jemx\_rebinned\_rmf.fits. Note also that jemx_num=1 is the default value.

It is convenient to create an RMF before the spectral analysis so that one can just pass the rebinned RMF to the analysis scripts (through the hidden parameter response ). In this way, the fits files with the spectra will automatically contain a link to the correct RMF in their header. However, please be aware that providing a rebinned RMF to the analysis scripts will *not* cause the spectral extraction analysis step to actually use the same energy binning. The user must check that the energy binning defined for the spectral extraction (e.g., through the parameter nChanBins, see Sect. ) matches the one used to rebin the RMF.