A tool to estimate the Fermi Large Area Telescope background for short-duration observations

Journal Article · Thu Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2013.07.002· OSTI ID:1356564

Vasileiou, Vlasios ^[1]

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1. Univ. Montpellier, Montpellier (France)

Here, the proper estimation of the background is a crucial component of data analyses in astrophysics, such as source detection, temporal studies, spectroscopy, and localization. For the case of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi spacecraft, approaches to estimate the background for short (≲1000 s duration) observations fail if they ignore the strong dependence of the LAT background on the continuously changing observational conditions. We present a (to be) publicly available background-estimation tool created and used by the LAT Collaboration in several analyses of Gamma Ray Bursts. This tool can accurately estimate the expected LAT background for any observational conditions, including, for example, observations with rapid variations of the Fermi spacecraft’s orientation occurring during automatic repointings.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1356564
• Journal Information: Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 48, Issue C; ISSN 0927-6505
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
gamma ray bursts
space-born observatory
gamma ray astronomy
background estimation