CIAO 4.3 and CALDB 4.4.1 released 15 December 2010
==================================================
The Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) is pleased to announce that version 4.3
of CIAO ("Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations") and version
4.4.1 of CALDB ("Calibration Database") are available for download from:
http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/download/
The CIAO 4.3 software requires CALDB 4.4.1 to work correctly.
CIAO and CALDB installation or upgrade are now greatly simplified and
automated by the ciao-install script generated based on selections
from the download page.
The script will download all the necessary CIAO and CALDB files, and
then automatically install them. The download procedure no-longer
requires you to register before being able to install CIAO.
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Notable changes and improvements in CIAO 4.3:
* The EDSER sub-pixel algorithm has been implemented as the default in
acis_process_events, replacing the +/-0.5 pixel randomization. A
temperature-dependent CTI calibration is available for observations
taken at the -120 C focal plane temperature. New parameters have been
added to support these features.
The chandra_repro script has been updated to support this algorithm.
* Two new tools for use when creating ARF files: arfcorr (correct an
ARF for the finite extraction region) and sky2tdet (improved weighting
algorithm for spatial variations in the ARF).
Both are discussed in the How CIAO 4.3 and CALDB 4.4.1 Affect Your
Analysis section of these release notes.
* A new tool, addresp, adds together multiple imaging ARFs and RMFs to
create a pair of merged ARF and RMF files. The tool is used by the
combine_spectra script which replaces the deprecated acisspec script.
acisspec has been removed from the contributed tarfile.
* The Sherpa modeling and fitting package has a number of enhancements,
such as support for model expressions with different type of instruments
and combinations of convolved and non-convolved model components,
caching of model parameters, improved support for multi-core processing,
new iterative fitting methods and many new high level user interface
functions.
* The ChIPS plotting application includes support for creating axes with
WCS meta data associated with them. There are new commands for panning
and zooming in plots, as well as improved image support and many
enhancements and bug fixes.
* The Data Model supports TSV format ASCII files, including the extended
header detail provided by the Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) output format.
* Support for the S-Lang scripting language has been removed from ChIPS
and the CIAO tools and modules. S-Lang was removed from Sherpa in the
CIAO 4.2 Sherpa v2 release (July 2010).
Read the complete CIAO 4.3 release notes, including the section "How
CIAO 4.3 and CALDB 4.4.1 Affect Your Analysis" at:
http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/releasenotes/ciao_4.3_release.html
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CIAO 4.3 is distributed for the following platforms:
* Solaris 10 (SunOS5.10)
* Linux 32-bit and 64-bit
* Mac OS X Intel 10.5 and 10.6 32-bit and 64-bit
More details at http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/download/platforms.html
* NOTE ON 64-BIT PACKAGES:* The 64-bit CIAO builds are now the default
on 64-bit machines with the Quick Installation.
Installation of 32-bit binaries on 64-bit machines can only be done
through Custom Installation.
-----------------------------------
In tandem with CIAO 4.3 is the release of the Chandra Calibration
Database version 4.4.1.
CALDB 4 is a brand new, newly-configured, newly-supported calibration
database for Chandra, in particular for CIAO 4.3. The directory
structure, caldb configuration (index files), and the software interface
are all changed/upgraded.
CALDB 4.4.1 requires CIAO 4.3 or later version; earlier versions of CIAO
do not support recent upgrades to acis_process_events.
Furthermore CIAO 4.3 requires CalDB 4.4.1 to function properly.
CalDB 4.4.1 includes the following new items:
ACIS contamination (CONTAM) with new ACIS-I correction model.
ACIS T_GAIN Epoch 43 new updates for observations since 01 May 2010.
ACIS Temperature-dependent CTI correction files.
ACIS GRDIMG file for CTI correction of FI chips in GRADED DATAMODE
observations.
ACIS SUBPIX (subpixel repositioning) CalDB file.
HRC-I QE and Gain Map upgrades for 2010.
HRC-S/LETG grating tilt corrections, with associated TGMASK2 and LSFPARM
files.
Detailed information can be found in the Chandra
Calibration Database website at http://cxc.harvard.edu/caldb/
----------------------------------------
As always please send questions and requests for enhancements to the CXC
HELPDESK (http://cxc.harvard.edu/helpdesk/).
CIAO 4.3 is a collaborative effort between the SAO/CXC Science Data
Systems, the SAO/CXC Data Systems, and MIT/CXC personnel.
Antonella Fruscione (for the CIAO development team)
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