For the community

X-IFU response matrices (2024)

Following the reformulation of the Athena mission, a new set of X-IFU resources is now available for download at the link below. Check the INSTRUCTIONS.README file for a description of the response files distributed.

Mirror resource products for the baseline mission configuration are available from :https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/athena/resources-by-esa

As of March 2024, the X-IFU team considers a mirror of 13 rows as the baseline and an instrument spectral resolution of 4 eV. However, we wish to keep an X-IFU internal goal design of 3 eV. Thus we also release response files with 3 eV, understanding that this is not the baseline.

You will find information on the instrument efficiency assumed in generating these response files in Barret et al. (Experimental Astronomy, 2023). Please refer to this paper if you intend to use those response files in your work. Thanks !

Download the whole set of arf, rmf and SIXTE files with the relevant documentation in one big zip file

SIXTE files related to X-IFU (2023)

SIXTE is a software package for X-ray telescope observation simulations developed at the Remeis Observatory (ECAP). It allows to undertake instrument performance analyses and to produce simulated event files for X-IFU and other instruments. The formal repository for files used by SIXTE for the reformulated X-IFU is here. They are provided to the community by Edoardo Cucchetti, X-IFU performance manager.